Again last week we heard that marketing Bermuda in the United Kingdom and in Europe is paying off. A "foundation'' of first time visitors from Europe is being built. Tour operators, travel agents and group organisers are being approached and selected travel agents from Europe are being trained to be specialists in Bermuda.

All of that is very welcome and if the Ministry of Tourism can get European agents interested in Bermuda they might well be able to make some sales. This is an innovative step and we agree that these agents could be the key to encouraging more business to Bermuda.

The European visitor is valuable. First of all they stay longer because they have travelled longer and paid a good deal more to get here. Extending the number of bed nights spent in Bermuda is very important to tourism returns and bed nights from the United States have been declining.

The problem is that Bermuda is not in a very competitive position in Europe.

Since there is no direct flight, these visitors have to travel through London or via the United States and that extends their trip a good deal.

Travelling through Gatwick on British Airways is complicated because of the lack of a daily flight and what flights there are are often heavily booked.

Flying through New York will often involve a change of airlines and the hassle of claiming and clearing baggage in New York and then changing terminals.

Until there is a direct flight to Bermuda from Europe, probably from Germany, we cannot see that visitor numbers will increase to any great extent. Then there is the problem of Bermuda itself. European visitors, especially younger ones, are often looking for a more relaxed and more swinging resort than Bermuda. It may be that Bermuda itself would not be comfortable with large numbers of Europeans who demand more attention than visitors from the United States and Canada ask for. Bermuda is very much designed to please the North American market which is a good deal more sedate than the European traveller.

Europeans take for granted some things which Bermuda shuns, like nude beaches.

The first question asked by European travel writers who come to Bermuda is, "Why are there no nude beaches?'' We have to wonder why nudity is such a necessity.

The slogan for this new push is "Find yourself in Bermuda''. Notice that it is not "Let yourself go''. Perhaps tourism officials are concerned that European visitors might take that slogan literally.