body Tourism Minister David Allen has said the Hotel Concessions Act 2000 will have no impact on this summer's tourism numbers.

Responding to questions posed by The Royal Gazette following Friday's release of the latest tourism numbers, Mr. Allen said: "The Hotel Concessions Act 2000 would not have had, nor was it expected to have, any impact on visitor numbers yet.'' "Or indeed the next year, since the major renovations and total hotel rebuilds for which the Act provides incentives will not be completed until 2002 and 2003.'' The Act is a framework of tax reliefs and financial incentives for the hospitality industry. It is hoped it will kick-start Bermuda's ailing industry.

Tourism figures continue to fluctuate after the bankruptcy of the Commodore Holdings cruise line while major hotel renovations have reduced rooms available.

The Minister revealed the Government is still searching for a replacement for the Crown Dynasty after the operating company declared bankruptcy.

"Not replacing the ship would clearly result in a decline in cruise visitors, but just how many would depend on what load factors were achieved by other regular cruise ships, as well as occasional cruise ship visits, which vary from year to year,'' said Mr. Allen.

Explaining why bed nights are down so drastically, Mr. Allen said the 19 percent decline experienced by large hotels is due to the closure of the Marriott Castle Harbour, which accounted for nearly 20 percent of the room supply.

Guest house numbers continued to fall as well as but Mr. Allen explained: "Bed nights are down for guest houses largely because lower numbers of visitors booked slightly shorter stays, compared to 1999.''