A bid to get more Bermudians into the hotel industry will see a team touring the Island next week to try to lure the unemployed into the hospitality sector.

Announcing the move, Labour and Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess said the sector was increasingly being filled with guest workers.

He said: "We want to return to a time when visitors to this Island leave with special and lasting memories of the Bermudian staff with whom they interacted.

"These are the kinds of visitors, we believe, will return to Bermuda again and again."

The mobile recruitment drive, in conjunction with the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Bermuda Hotel Association, is seeking housekeepers, food service helpers, cooks and spa workers. It will target areas where the young unemployed congregate and share information on jobs and training available.

The team will be at St. James' Church Hall, Somerset, Devonshire Rec Club, Devonshire and the Bethel AME Church in Hamilton Parish between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. from Wednesday, November 29 to Friday, December 1. Mr. Burgess told The Royal Gazette: "Hopefully from that exercise next week we will get sufficient Bermudians interested in the hotel industry so we won't have to bring as many workers into the country."

But he admitted many Bermudians had left the hotel industry behind them and were making the most of increased employment choice.

He said hotel employers had complained about not getting enough Bermudians in the industry. "We have to train our people," he said.

Recently the Labour Department placed ads which yielded 47 replies from those interested in working in construction.

"We want those able-bodied people who can work to work."

Some would be helped by the National Training Board, others would be placed with employers, he said. "Workers need to be on first name terms with our Labour Department if possible. Call them first. We want people to know if you are coming to Government for a job we will go all out to get you a job."

Government also plans to be more restrictive with work permits, said Mr. Burgess.

"We have told the employers, say if you got ten work permit holders in a landscaping business, you might want to only have eight and take on two Bermudians and train them.

"We are not going to give you all those work permits when we have Bermudians available who are interested in being trained."

Those who felt unfairly passed over for jobs should get in touch with the Labour Ministry which will investigate, said the Minister. And he said employers who utilised workers outside the bounds of what their work permits said would find the offending worker sent home and restrictions on getting replacements. Such abuse was going in construction, janitorial and cleaning but Government would adopt a zero-tolerance approach, said Mr. Burgess, who reminded employers of the policy that foreign workers should be laid off before Bermudians.

But employers were doing the opposite, he said.