Government colleagues would do well to give careful consideration to the private sector's proposals for revitalising tourism.

The draft proposals, revealed in The Royal Gazette yesterday, are innovative and show that the hospitality industry has a strong grasp of the fundamental problems facing the sector.

Leaving aside the targeted increases and decreases in visitor arrivals, the plan emphasises the need for better co-ordination between rival properties and Government and the need for targeting niche markets and "elite travel agents''.

Some of this will be music to Mr. Allen's ears. He has long been an advocate of emphasising the need to target segments of the travel market as diverse as divers and "cultural tourists''.

Conversion of the Hamilton waterfront into a visitor attraction is also welcome; for too long, Bermuda has used one of its greatest assets as a car park.

The time has also come for Bermuda to look at new approaches to air travel.

The high cost of getting to the Island is a massive impediment to turning arrivals around and airfares must come down at the same time that the hotel industry holds the line on its prices and improves the quality of service.

Here, the best choice is to increase competition on air routes to keep fares low. This has occurred on transatlantic routes with huge success. The other alternatives, subsidising fares either through rebates or incentives, are less palatable and could be a slippery slope for the Island.

Bermuda should not get into the position of paying people to come to the Island, in spite of Opposition Sen. Maxwell Burgess' point that that may have been more cost-effective last year than the new ad campaign, which yielded one visitor for every $600 spent.

Overall, these proposals would help to put tourism on a sound footing. And this kind of interchange of ideas between different parts of the community is to be welcomed; all areas of expertise must be called on if tourism is to recover.

PUBLIC SERVICE EDT Public service It is tempting to wonder what solutions W.J. (Jimmy) Williams could have contributed to the tourism problem.

Mr. Williams led the Department of Tourism through the golden age of the industry in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, when new hotels were springing up everywhere and visitors came to the Island in increasing numbers each year.

As Sir John Plowman notes in today's paper, the circumstances in those days were quite different, but Mr. Williams, who died on Wednesday night, was a unique individual as well.

A long-time civil servant, he served with distinction not only in Tourism but as Cabinet Secretary and later gave sage counsel in the Senate.

"Jimmy'' Williams was a true servant of the people of Bermuda. His successors in the public service would be well-served if they followed his example.