A watershed meeting between tourism and the private sector is to result in the first fully-coordinated plan to sell Bermuda.

Tourism officials heralded the move, which followed a conference yesterday, as the only way forward to recovery.

The outcome will be a strategic plan that will combine retail, transport, business, sports, restaurants elements -- which will then dovetail with Government's own plan.

The result should be one overall plan which will enable Bermuda to sell itself "lock, stock and barrel'' as a complete destination with many attractions under the marketing umbrella.

Fairmont Hamilton Princess general manager Michael Kaile said they were hoping to have a plan ready by February, 2000 for implementation next summer -- with the public possibly seeing an improvement in results the following year.

Another plan will be worked on next summer, for the following season.

The attractions were having a long-term course, with the Department of Tourism and the private sector working together, rather than short-term "crisis management'', he said.

"There are huge advantages in working together,'' said Mr. Kaile. "It goes without saying that not working together is simply not an option.

"What is the alternative? The alternative is short-term crisis management. We are looking at a long-term cooperative approach to the Island.

"I am convinced this will achieve results.'' The meeting, held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and hosted by Tourism Minister David Allen, also identified sector leaders who will confer with their partners and come up with ideas.

Those ideas will then fit in a framework for the plan, established at the next meeting in January.

Ideas could then be communicated to advertising or public relations partners, who can then ensure they fit into a cohesive programme for the Island.

"It is important the market place is not receiving confusing messages. If we don't have an approach like this, we stand a real risk of doing this,'' said Mr. Kaile.

Mr. Allen commended the private sector for taking the lead in the meeting.

He said the aim was to encourage the private sector to take on a greater role in part of the tourism strategy that affects them.

"In areas of product development or new experiences, we want them to have a greater sense of ownership, not just saying "let the Government do everything'', he said.

"It was a real watershed event, the group was able to come together and join forces in this way, it was extremely encouraging.'' In marketing the Island, the coordinated plans will enable the Department of Tourism to focus on promoting Bermuda as the destination, whereas the private sector can deal with aspects of the product on the ground.

And as experiences on the Island change and the demands of the visitor shift, then the eventual plan will also adjust.

Mr. Allen said: "We want our strategic plan to be a living document, constantly updated, improved and expanded because it is a very dynamic market place -- things change day by day and we have to be proactive.''