Government has been accused of doing a tourism U-turn and wasting millions in taxpayers' money with a failed "sex and sin'' advertising campaign.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Allen last night said the Progressive Labour Party had been vindicated for challenging the saucy Let Yourself Go TV ads.

Tourism chiefs revealed yesterday that the commercials would be scrapped as Bermuda sought to attract "more upscale'' visitors.

They denied that the campaign, launched during the 1996 Academy Awards, had failed.

And officials said the Let Yourself Go tagline would be kept on newspaper and magazine adverts.

The Ministry of Tourism spent $14 million on the Let Yourself Go ads, promising they would attract 25,000 new, younger holidaymakers.

But the number of visitors to Bermuda last year actually fell.

And Mr. Allen last night blamed Tourism Minister David Dodwell for the failure of the high-profile campaign.

He said: "It was a bad judgement call and you have to lay this at the Minister's desk because he personally and fully endorsed the campaign and the commercials.

"There's also no question that the Government has performed a U-turn. The Minister can try his best to rationalise it but we have wasted millions of dollars in taxpayers' money.

"I stated from the outset that we had serious concerns about the focus of the new campaign.

"One of the ads featured a windsock on a clear sex and sin theme and then there was a Born to be Wild motorbiker advertising Bermuda.

"This was clearly positioning Bermuda downmarket and it did not sell the specifically unique attributes that the Island has.

"We could have taken the name Bermuda out of those adverts and they could have made people think of Hawaii, Key West or just about anywhere else.'' Tourism officials yesterday launched a new five-year plan to show Bermuda as "a total island resort''.

Mr. Dodwell said a new advertising campaign would be prepared next year and a decision would then be taken on whether or not to drop the Let Yourself Go slogan altogether.

And Mr. Allen called for a series of new ads to highlight Bermuda's history and heritage and activities like scuba and wreck diving.

The Pembroke East Central MP also said a nightlife programme would have to be introduced before the "sex and sin'' line was adopted again.

"We spent a small fortune on these commercials and a pretty penny on the launch during the Academy Awards,'' he said.

"We said all along that it was off-target and now we feel totally vindicated for that.

"It's just a pity that Government has only realised that two years after wasting so much good money.

"Now it's time to push the unique aspects of Bermuda. Government took the wrong tack by saying you could have some wonderfully deliciously sinful vacation here.

"They were writing a cheque that certain parts of the body couldn't cover.

Bermuda is a very quiet place.

"If you portray it as a sizzling and steamy place, people will only come here and be disappointed.''