HAT a singular delight it has been to witness the recent successes of our Tourism (and Transport) Minister. A deal has been struck to resuscitate the Club Med property. Ambitious plans have been unveiled to redevelop both Ariel Sands and the Fairmont Southampton (although these projects might be mixed blessings given the amount of open space that will be devoured by new condos which are - let's face it - intended more for International Business types than tourists). And then there's the introduction of Jet Blue to the island's fleet of air carriers. This is really an unparalleled triumph for Dr. Ewart Brown. For the first time in my 30-odd years we now have some reasonably priced air fares between Bermuda and major US destinations ? and the real possibilty of others coming on line.

In fact, if the unconscionably high fares we have all paid to fly to New York, Boston and other cities weren't bad enough in and of themselves, they also have had a knock-on effect ? negating any savings we may have enjoyed when booking the reasonably-priced routes from major US East Coast cities to Europe.

For as long as I can remember, air fares from Bermuda to New York or any equidistant (under 1,000 miles) destination on our long term carriers (AA, Continental, United etc.) have been monumentally disproportionate to the fees the same airlines charged to fly similar or longer distances most anywhere else.

Why, you may ask?

Because they could.

Dr. Brown has accomplished, in a relatively short time span, something none of his predecessors could.

His skillful negotiations have forced the stalwarts like American Airlines to enter into a relatively perfect state of competition. Now the laws of supply and demand can operate unencumbered by the moral equivalent of price fixing with Jet Blue, a lower cost airline, being brought into the mix.

These reduced fares, for the most part, will benefit Bermudians and Bermuda residents travelling for personal reasons and the tourists coming to visit our island. This is a major necessary first step in the difficult attempt to restore our second pillar of economic support - that is, to reclaim some of the market share our tourism industry has lost over the past 20 years to International Business.

Because of our International Business success since the 1980s, which has necessarily elevated our cost of living across the board - from food to real estate to salaries ? we have priced ourselves out of the tourism business and rendered ourselves unable to compete with the island paradises in the Caribbean.

We Bermudians have had little confidence that either political party would be able to turn tourism's fortunes around. Personally, I got the impression that by the time the United Bermuda Party lost power in 1998, it had pretty much given up on this form of revenue (as evidenced by its almost singular focus on funneling both resources and attention to International Business concerns). I speculate this was because of an unspoken but universal belief that the costs and effort involved to turn around tourism would not justify the time and money that would have to be expended.

In 1998 David Allen became Tourism Minister in the first PLP Government. Despite his pledge to "turn tourism around in a hundred days," visitor arrival figures kept plummeting and hotels kept closing.

In fact it's quite possible that Mr. Allen managed to market more business for the destinations he described so vividly in his old travel column than he managed to create for Bermuda as Tourism Minister.

After his death the capable Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb took on his Ministry having proved in a very short time that she was the best choice for the evolving field of telecommunications. Finally we had competition which benefited consumers and businesses alike with more reasonable charges and improved services. It was the blessed end of $50 phone bills for any 20 minute long distance phone calls.

In addition, the Minister also gave CableVision a well deserved reprimand for charging us some $80 per month for a service that instantly went "native" whenever the weather deteriorated. For too many years we'd be frustrated when the weather forced us inside and we'd face 50-odd channels of snow (which was entertaining only to those who might have indulged in a recreational pharmaceutical popularised by Timothy Leary in the 1960s).

... But I digress.

Ms Webb did not have the time to make her impact on the Tourism Ministry as she did with Telecommunications. In fact, when it came to tourism she appeared to adopt the Keith Richards' credo of "walking before they make me run (or insane)."

Unfortunately we lost one of the most capable members of Cabinet when she resigned.

But in a rare act of wisdom Alex Scott turned Tourism over to the multi-talented Dr Brown.

There are a few other serving Ministers who have potential but we have no guarantee it will ever be realised given a Premier who destroys the Cabinet careers of those MPs who are unable to save his face ? does Ashfield DeVent's ill-fated spell at Works & Engineering come to mind?

Government is not supposed to be a training ground for inexperienced politicians, many of whom are obviously in over their heads.

It's for those who can hit the ground running, think on their feet, admit when they are wrong and be humble enough to take advice from others with proven expertise.

Dr. Brown represents the gold standard in this regard. And, sadly, the man who appointed him to Cabinet represents what the Editor of this newspaper recently referred to as "the fool's gold standard."