industry a break in such things as licence fees and gasoline prices is, we think, a bad mistake. Bermuda's tourism is in a crisis created by high prices.

There should be a serious attempt to hold prices and that includes taxi fares.

Bermuda must get serious about pricing. The quick and easy way is simply to let prices climb but that is killing tourism and it is not good for the taxi industry in the long run.

We have every sympathy with the taxi industry because fares have not been increased for a very long time and everyone else has gone on putting up prices. But that is changing now and hotels, retailers and restaurants are taking steps to hold prices. It is time to recognise the fact that the taxi industry needs a better living but it should be recognised without increasing basic fares by 20 percent. We think fare increases will mean less fares and that is not a solution for the industry.

There are other ramifications. Bermuda cannot expect its visitors to be captive in the hotels for lack of transportation. We must understand that people have to move around conveniently in order to enjoy their holiday and the truth is that they also need to move around in order to spend their money.

Too often these days a hotel is becoming the destination and not Bermuda.

We think higher taxi fares will encourage visitors to take buses during the day and to stay put in their accommodation at night. That will not be good for restaurants or places of entertainment especially at a time when just about everyone says we need more entertainment.

A lack of convenient and reasonable transportation may well mean that the hotels will have to return to entertaining their guests in the evening.

Visitors who are stuck in their hotels with nothing to do and do not want to add $40 in taxi fares to their dinner bill or their nightclub bill will not be happy visitors.

Fares which visitors are likely to find unreasonable are not Bermuda's answer.

The hotels which have a duty to their guests to provide an enjoyable stay will have to look at affordable ways to move people around Bermuda. We think that could well include courtesy buses to and from the Airport, into Hamilton and to the beaches. We have to move people about Bermuda and the cheap and easy moped solution is no longer either easy or convenient on today's roads.

Price increases in the visitor sector should not be considered in isolation because they impact on everyone. Given the crisis in tourism, all our efforts should be directed at making things more convenient and more enjoyable for visitors. People do not have a good time if they think they are being gouged.

Taxi fares have to be looked at along with 15 percent gratuities and the taxes that Government adds to hotel bills. These are the things to which visitors object. Bermuda is too expensive and it has gone a long way toward pricing itself out of the market. And, Cuba is coming.