Tourism and hotel officials have begun a two-month, $300,000 bid to create a five-year marketing and business strategy.

It will pinpoint areas where Bermuda can target efforts.

The joint announcement came from Tourism Minister David Dodwell, Tourism director Gary Phillips, Tourism's assistant director of marketing Pat Phillip-Bassett, Bermuda Hotel Association president Dennis Tucker, BHA executive vice-president John Harvey and Tourism Board marketing committee chairman Terrett West.

The plan will set the direction for Bermuda's tourism industry to follow over the next five years.

"We want to be more in control of our own destiny. We want to find a way to better present ourselves and communicate with our customers,'' said Mr.

Dodwell.

"The cost is not insignificant,'' he continued, "but it is good value.'' The hotel and Tourism Department will split the bill of $285,000 for the Marketing Corporation of America team, plus any extra expenses, emphasising the theme of partnership.

A management consulting group, MCA was selected to help the process of creating the plan and began work last week.

No money will go into research, added Mr. Dodwell. MCA, in their role as a facilitator, will use documentation that has already been collected.

Mr. Dodwell said Tourism officials believed the hotel industry needed to be involved from day one.

"It is one thing to say that the entire community needs to be involved,'' said Mr. Dodwell, "but the two significant investors in marketing overseas are the Ministry of Tourism and the hotel industry.'' Mr. Harvey said: "The most significant thing is the question of the timing of the plan.'' Mr. Dodwell said: "About three months ago we started looking at a long range plan for our marketing.'' Meanwhile hoteliers were discussing a similar idea so when the department presented its proposal to hoteliers it was well received.

Mr. Tucker said: "Needless to say we were all very, very excited by this initiative and there was unanimous support by all the hoteliers that were there.'' Mr. Dodwell said: "I absolutely guarantee the community that all segments of this particular industry, from the smallest guest house to the largest hotel, will be represented in this plan.'' The blueprint is expected to be prepared in "a short, sharp and intense'' eight-week period, said Mr. Dodwell.

"The importance of doing it quickly is for two reasons,'' he noted.

"Firstly, we need to be ready for next season, then we do not want to be agonising over something. Dragging it out is not in our interests.

"We will have a document that is our plan. We will use it collectively to promote Bermuda and the hotels.'' The plan stems partly from one of the recommendations put forward by consulting firm Monitor Company. An intermediate priority for the Island, claimed Monitor, was the need to redefine Bermuda's brand image to reflect new visitor experiences and industry values.

The Island had to have a compelling and consistent image off-Island and on-Island and redefining the brand image would require coordinating messages to visitors and the Bermudian community.

The focus had to be on getting more of an impact overseas by bringing the four core issues of price, product, place (distribution) and promotion together, stressed Mr. West.

This plan would be constantly reviewed, said Mrs. Phillip Bassett.

She said the need to take a long term view was caused by the constantly changing tourism industry. But she noted that an agency review was not in the cards. The department would continue using the same agencies it had always used so it would not be distracted from getting the best plan it could, she said.

Not all of the plan's ideas would be able to be implemented in the first year, continued Mrs. Phillip-Bassett, but work on getting them implemented shortly afterwards would start straight away.

Mr. Phillips said what was really exciting was that for the first time the Island could determine who it was, what markets it was going after and what was the best way to satisfy its visitors.

"It sets the direction for everyone,'' added Mrs. Phillip-Bassett.

"This is the shared vision that Monitor was talking about,'' said Mr.

Phillips. But once the plan was developed and people were attracted to the Island, Bermuda then had to deliver what it promised.

If Bermuda was to be a high-end destination, with the appropriate service and product, and the best vacation experience possible in that time period, then it also had to provide value.

"Product and service have to be commensurate with price,'' said Mr. Dodwell.

Monitor Company had already succeeded in getting the community to realise that it needed to galvanise its efforts and provide what the visitor was looking for. "We must do everything we can to meet the customer's expectation,'' stressed Mr. Tucker.