Government last night denied Opposition claims that it had no coherent plan for tourism, as Tourism Minister David Allen asked the House of Assembly for an extra $1 million.

Mr. Allen claimed the industry would reap the rewards of the extra spending, but Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said there was no strategic plan and that falling visitor numbers this year showed Government was failing.

The heated clash occurred as Government asked for approval for almost $5 million in extra spending across the board.

In asking for an additional $1,008,000 for his department, Mr. Allen maintained "every dollar spent in the Tourism Ministry this last fiscal year has been money well spent''.

"After the previous Government neglected the industry for so long and let it fall between the cracks, we have really made an effort to put the Bermudian identity back into tourism.'' Referring to his Cabinet colleagues' commitment to laying a "firm foundation for tourism,'' he added: "We need to have a good concrete mixture for this building to be held together.

"This past year we have succeeded in demonstrating that this Government has faith in Bermudian tourism.

"We have put our money where our mouth is and shown the industry that we are serious about relaunching tourism with solid partnership with hotels, airlines and travel agencies.'' Clash over tourism The industry has secured a boost with the announcement that between 800 and 1,000 travel agents from the Association of American Travel Agents will hold their annual conference on the Island in March.

The Ministry needed an extra $285,000 for transportation costs and social functions for the conference, he said.

But Mr. Dodwell said the visitor figures showed Government had failed. All arrivals to the Island for the end of September were down by 3.4 percent for this year.

He said: "There is no strategic plan that this Ministry can put on the table to show us. When you don't have a plan, you can't share it with the Country.'' He said big spending on Government roadshows was not the most focused way of targeting potential tourists. With more people booking holidays over the Internet, the importance of travel agents was diminishing.

Referring to this week's Government summit with the industry at the Hamilton Princess which was supposed to lay the foundations for a long-term tourism strategy, Mr. Dodwell asked: "Why has it taken 13 months to start a plan?'' WHERE THE MONEY WENT The following information was included in Government's supplementary estimate of spending for the 1999/00 financial year which was debated in the House of Assembly yesterday: Cabinet Office -- $1,312,600 (for marketing and promotion, establishment of a Y2K programme management office, and grants and contributions); Finance Ministry -- $258,000 (for marketing and promotion, professional services, and grants and contributions); Health Department -- $262,000 (for the Opportunity Workshop and Orange Valley special school and operational costs); Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Ministry -- $700,000 (for salaries for the Prisons Service and Registry General); Tourism Ministry -- $1,008,000 (for marketing and promotion); Education Ministry -- $308,000 (for capital development); Marine and Ports Services -- $700,000 (for capital acquisitions); Prisons -- $136,000 (for capital acquisitions).