Just months after saying that she would not release quarterly arrivals figures without spending figures, Tourism Minister Renee Webb yesterday reversed the policy of her predecessor the late David Allen and released monthly arrival figures for July.

It would be wrong to make too much of the point that Ms Webb seems to be exercising a double standard on this (quarterly figures without spending figures are bad, but monthly figures without monthly spending figures are good) because the move is the right one.

Anyone who depends on tourism for a living needs as much information as possible in order to make good decisions, so it is to be hoped that Ms Webb will continue the policy when she has bad news to deliver as well as good.

And there is no question that arrival figures for September and the rest of the year are going to be pretty bad.

But they can take some credit for the successes so far of the 2003 season.

Bermuda's marketing campaign is at long last on a sensible footing and there has been some success in getting the word out that Bermuda is open for business, including a fulsome article in last week's Sunday New York Times.

And some schemes, including the Companion Flies Free offer, have been successful as has the renewed focus on Bermuda's main markets, which showed some gains in July.

Through July, air arrivals remain behind 2002 by four percent, a difference the Department of Tourism statement describes as a "a mere" 7,000 people.

And through the end of June, air visitors were spending more than they did in 2001 and 2002, although the figure still lagged behind spending in 2000.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that these improvements will not carry through in July, because if the Department of Tourism figures are correct, last July visitors stayed for an unusually long period of time, averaging some eight bed-nights each. This year that fell to the more usual five bed-nights.

And the worst news of all is that any improvements in tourism between January and August will be offset by September and the effects of Fabian.

Ms Webb and her civil servants cannot be blamed for Fabian. But turning around the rest of the year will require a concerted effort.

The number of flights to the Island needs to be increased as soon as the Causeway re-opens and a marketing blitz trumpeting not only that the Island is open, but that Bermuda can be a great place for an autumn vacation needs to be put in place right away.