which includes all the things Bermuda has to offer. Every part of the package is important to the visitor and each part supports the others. If a single part has problems which affect the visitor's enjoyment of Bermuda, then we all have a problem.

For a long time it has been fairly common in Bermuda to assume that the retail sector was "crying wolf'' when it talked about its problems. It was thought that "Front Street'' was looking after itself and that things were just not so bad. Only now are we beginning to accept that retailing in Bermuda is in serious trouble and that the retail sector is a large employer.

We think Bermuda needs to pay a good deal of attention to what is happening to its quality shops before we are left with so little that we are forced to shop abroad.

We must accept that shopping is an important part of a vacation experience and that visitors like to shop and expect to shop. It is probably fair to say that visitors expect to get a bargain or two when they are overseas and that they hope to find some things to take back which they do not normally see at home.

Yet retailing in Bermuda is a highly complex operation. It is based on catering to two quite different markets, locals and visitors, who are often in search of quite different goods. It is further complicated by distance, high wages and import duties which Government needs but which impact on prices.

Then too there are other complications. Bermudians take trips abroad to shop in the malls with which Bermuda's retailers cannot hope to compete. Luxury goods which used to be remarkably unique to Bermuda are now quite common and often on sale in the United States.

Bermuda's retailers had a long and difficult recession and came through largely because the banks were generous and helpful to their clients. There are constant reports that one or the other of the large stores is about to close but they continue to hang on...hoping. Retailers expected that the recession would end and things would improve. That has not been the case.

First, Bermuda was unsettled for some 18 months by the debate on Independence and now arrival figures for "regular'' visitors -- who are far more valuable to the economy than cruise passengers -- are in ongoing decline.

Retailing is in trouble no matter how many people still think that Front Street is bluffing. There has been a remarkable effort to keep prices down in Bermuda yet the belief persists that Bermuda's shops are way over-priced. When you compare like with like and remember that our taxes are included in the price, Bermuda's shops do very well with pricing.

But those taxes are a major retailing problem. When they are added to such things as high rents, high wages, high electricity, and the costs of transportation, they are killing retailing. Now that we have an experienced retailer as Minister of Finance, the Hon. Grant Gibbons, this may be the time to take a hard look at taxes as they impact on local prices.