Several working groups have been established by a US consultancy group as it motivates the community to improve Bermuda tourism.

Monitor Group's phase two project is steaming ahead following the completion of phase one where information on what is causing the decline in what was the Island's one-time chief industry was collected.

Project director Joe Babiec unveiled the work the company had accomplished so far during the action-orientated second phase which should run until the end of March.

Three two-day workshops involving about 100 different people from some 80 different tourism-related companies have been held, he said.

Research from phase one on the different customer segments Bermuda could attract was distributed to the groups for discussion.

Information gleaned from these discussions was accumulated and will be combined with phase one data to create a library within the fortnight, said Mr. Babiec.

The library will be accessible from five locations; the Bermuda Hotel Association; the Chamber of Commerce; the Bermuda Department of Tourism; the Bermuda Industrial Union; and the Bermuda College.

Meanwhile, Monitor continues to distribute information from phase one through the community.

And these working groups will be utilised again in the future.

Participants will be surveyed to determine which customer segments they would be interested in pursuing.

Like-minded participants from different groups will then team up to create plans to attract and service these customers.

Mr. Babiec said no more workshops were planned for the immediate future.

However, there was a high demand for them, he noted, and Monitor was actively considering holding a few more.

Four working groups were set up to look at two specific tourism markets and two more general customer segments, continued Mr. Babiec.

One group is working on attracting the niche market created by the Bermuda International Film Festival.

Festival committee members, the Elbow Beach Hotel and representatives from the central reservation service are already involved and restaurants, retailers and other hotels are being actively recruited.

This group has sent out its first trip packages for overseas visitors wishing to attend the festival.

The Tourism Department's New York office is aiding distribution by contacting travel agents who specialise in selling film packages.

This group, noted Mr. Babiec, was the farthest ahead of any of the groups and was now "live in the market''.

Meanwhile, another working group is looking into the Scuba diving market.

It is live in the market also with a trip package already being distributed.

However it wishes to accomplish a great deal this year, said Mr. Babiec, and this meant it had a long way to go yet.

Water activity providers, the central reservation service and the Tourism Department are working in this group.

Customer segments Monitor identified as explorers and escapers in phase one are being examined by two separate working groups.

These are trying to determine what needs to be set up on-Island to attract these respective customer-types and service them.

Monitor has recruited employees from hotels, restaurants and site attractions to work on these groups.

Transport representatives will join these groups to provide their input soon but are presently wrapped up in their own discussions.

Monitor has held two meetings -- with a third to come in the next two weeks -- with taxi drivers interested in setting up specific tours.

Working groups of taxi drivers will be created so they can brainstorm with each other and create the tours Bermuda's different customers were looking for.

Mr. Babiec said interested drivers would survey their visiting clientele over the upcoming weeks to determine what type of tours they would be interested in.

They would use this information to help plan out tours which could utilise other service providers.

For example, he suggested a taxi maritime tour in which drivers took their passengers to places of interest including the Maritime Museum in Dockyard, the Deliverance in St. George's and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.

Transport providers are also being pulled together by Monitor to create an integrated transport map.

Phase one research determined that this was an item which was severely lacking in Bermuda's tourism repertoire.

Visitors were confused because they did not know what transportation options they had.

Blank maps have been prepared and are being distributed.

Transport providers have been asked to fill in the maps with information about their own services.

A finished, combined product will hopefully be out by the end of March, said Mr. Babiec.

The project should also help unite the separate transport providers and stop them from competing with one another.

Monitor is now in the process of forming another working group which will look at issues of human capital.

The plan is to talk to people from different parts of the tourism community and uncover issues related to training, careers, compensation, productivity and opportunities that affect employees and employers.

Dealing with these issues will allow Bermuda to build up a more skillful community with more opportunities over the long term, said Mr. Babiec.

This will improve Bermuda's competitive advantage over other visitor destinations.

Monitor has also teamed up with the Visitor Industry Partnership to help promote one of their ideas called the Circle of Influence. Restaurants will be used as the pilot industry for the scheme.

Individuals from a variety of positions within the trade will be brought together to discuss the issues they face and develop understanding about how they can create change and address these issues.

They will be encouraged to get together with their colleagues and hold similar discussions.

Monitor and VIP will help by giving them information and tools to help them address these challenges.

The idea behind the Circle of Influence concept, explained Mr. Babiec, was for participants to continue bringing people into the discussions until everybody involved in the trade has run through the programme.

The eventual aim of the scheme is to build morale, partnership and energy amongst the participants which will in turn build shared productive vision.

Once a good working model of the circle is developed within the restaurant trade, it will be adapted for use in other businesses such as retail, hotels and activities.

Already talks are under way about creating a professional association to handle this process.

Mr. Babiec said a plan was also under way to create recognition awards that are presented to employees by their peers.

This type of award was not in place and employees felt it was sorely needed.

Monitor are also working with tourism's marketing task force to help it change and co-ordinate its efforts.

The segmentation research conducted by the firm during phase one would be reflected in the marketing plan, added Mr. Babiec.

But he noted that the marketing task force was only part of the solution to the problems facing the tourism industry.

MONITOR MEASURES A working group is trying to attract the niche market created by the Bermuda International Film Festival; Another working group is looking into the Scuba diving market; Working groups of taxi drivers are to be formed to brainstorm with each other and create tours Bermuda's different customers are looking for; Transport providers are being pulled together by Monitor to create an integrated transport map; Monitor is forming another working group to uncover issues related to training, careers, compensation, productivity and opportunities that affect employees and employers; and Monitor has teamed up with the Visitor Industry Partnership to help promote the Circle of Influence. Individuals from positions within the restaurant trade will come together to discuss issues they face and develop understanding about how they can create change.

PART OF THE SOLUTION -- Gary Phillips, director of the Bermuda Tourism Department, which is one of five locations where a Monitor inspired library will be accessible.