Opportunities abound for attracting American visitors despite the Iraq war, delegates at an international tourism conference in Bermuda heard yesterday.

However advertising guru Peter Yesawich warned the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference about net-savvy "vigilante consumers" needing a deal to part with cash.

Mr. Yesawich told the 293 delegates at the Fairmont Southampton Princess that a recent representative poll of nearly 2,800 Americans showed only 25 percent had changed their travel plans because of the war.

Only seven percent of leisure travellers have cancelled trips and the Caribbean region was well down the list of places travellers were keen to avoid said the survey.

It showed 73 percent were less likely to go to Western Europe while 47 percent were less likely to go to the Caribbean region which was seen as safer than both Washington D.C. and New York City.

And Mr. Yesawich said a short war could see travel to the Caribbean spike in May/June. Figures after September 11 showed within four months the numbers of those wanting to avoid travel were slashed in half.

He said: "There is still some hope for the summer but if it's a protracted war we are heading for a difficult summer."

The key message was "Cheaper is `chicer'" said the head of advertising agency Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell.

Mr. Yesawich said there were 125 million active Internet users in the US and 82 percent of those polled always tried to negotiate the best deal on their hotels while 75 percent wanted to go somewhere where they had never been before.

He said 64 percent of Americans thought their IQ was higher than the average. "A vigilante consumer emerged in the 1990s. The shift is from brand loyalty to price loyalty.

"There is life in the market, even if things are very difficult. You can't assume there is no demand.

"You have to do business differently. You have to be more aggressive in pushing your business."

He said America's sluggish economy rather than war fears was depressing the travel industry, with 48 percent of those polled citing financial constraints.

The US has lost more than 300,000 jobs in the last month while those in work were increasingly tied up in debt, said Mr. Yesawich.

"Anxiety levels reduce in direct proportion to what they are paying for their experience.

"You have to be in the market to get your share."

World Travel and Tourism President Jean-Claude Baumgarten said in the best case scenario of a short war the tourism industry would be treading water, but the following decade would see growth with 4,383 jobs created in Bermuda.

A drawn out, messy war would mean tourism needed crisis management and significant government help said Mr. Baumgarten.

Douglas Frechtling, Tourism Professor at George Washington University, said a short war would see tourism growth decline by 9.5 percent this year but grow by ten percent next year.

But, he said, a long war lasting up to three months would see tourism growth decline by 16 percent this year and increase by 5.7 percent next year.

He said statistics showed American travellers wanted family packages, casinos, golf, tennis and water sports.

"You can attract visitors from American by playing to these strengths" said Mr. Frechtling.

After the speeches, Acting Tourism Minister Randy Horton told The Royal Gazette: "If you look at these presentations we have seen some significant opportunities even in light of the drastic economic situation that's created by the war.

"It means we will probably have to be a little more creative in presenting to sample buyers but it doesn't mean we will become a destination that's cheap.

"I am not sure if we should be looking for more packages. What we have to do is give value and put it on the Internet so people can see what we have."

He said people did not expect Bermuda to be priced as cheaply as some of the Caribbean destinations.

"If this war continues over a long period there are going to be some very, very challenging times ahead." A short war, he said, gave grounds for optimism.

He said sports and cultural centres could attract visitors which was something he could develop in his more usual role of Community and Cultural Affairs Minister.

Bermuda Government Telecommunications and E-Commerce Consultant Nigel Hickson said the Island was facing up to the Internet challenge with the adoption the synxsis online booking system which lists hotel inventory.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell admitted the "vigilante consumer" worried him because Bermuda's operating costs are so high.

Bermuda Resort Hotels president Billy Griffith agreed that Bermuda needed to be more aggressive in the way it packaged itself.

He said the Island was extending the two-for-one free flights for companions offer currently running out of the major Northeast American cities.

The initiative, funded by the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism, allows people to book up until June 15 rather than the previous April 15 deadline. They must take their holiday before December 15.