A leading voice in global tourism marketing says Bermuda's poor arrivals numbers could be a reflection of its low advertising budget.

In 2008 the Government of Bermuda allocated approximately $14.7 million for direct marketing and advertising.

However, answers to parliamentary questions revealed that figure was whittled down to approximately $8.8 million after commission is removed.

In the 2008/2009 fiscal year saw the tourism funds were used to place ads in magazines, newspapers, on radio and television stations as well as in public spaces such as airports.

"I would guess Bermuda's advertising budget is around $10 million," YPartnership CEO Peter Yesawich said. "While that may seem like a lot, compared to Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Jamaica it is not a very large advertising budget."

He estimated that some of Bermuda's competitors are spending as much as $30 million on brand awareness and advertising.

Mr. Yesawich's firm YPartnership is a travel and leisure industries speciality shop which provides advertising campaigns and works to increase brand awareness. His clients include Fairmont Hotel Resorts, Marriott International and Walt Disney World as well as the tourism departments of Bahamas and Cancun.

In his opinion the last successful tourism campaign launched by the Island was nearly two decades ago.

"While they are out of date now, the last successful one was 15 to 20 years ago," he said. "It focused on couples saying they were on their 14th visit to Bermuda. It was successful because it got people to the Island."

He added that he thought the Department of Tourism's Bermuda Shorts campaign in early 2000 was innovative, though it did not appear to gain much traction or move the brand forward in the minds of consumers.

Other islands such as the Bahamas spend millions placing adverts on major US television channels. Bahamas-based hotels, such as the Sandals chain, also pump millions into advertising. Such ads plug the destinations while promoting the hotel.

The latest tourism figures revealed a 14.27 percent decline in the number of air arrivals in the second quarter of 2009 when compared to the same period last year. This year, 87,445 tourists flew to the Island during the three-month period.