changes are important given the way they will impact on Bermuda's tourism. The era of opulence and the attitude of spend, spend, spend appear to be over and it is being replaced by a time of care, caution and conservation. The time for ostentatious display of wealth is passing into history, at least for now, along with junk bonds and Donald Trump. Flashing cash is no longer fashionable in the concerned Nineties and cautious spending is becoming the norm. People are replacing, "Sure let's buy it,'' with "Well, let's see.'' Basically what has happened is that the Flower Children of the 1960s are now in power and they are by definition people who are concerned with the state of the world. They were not bred with the cash values of the 1950s which prevailed so in the 1980s but with the concerns of the 1960s. As young people they were for peace and love and not very concerned about THINGS but deeply conscious of experience and of service to each other. The love generation wants the world to be happy and good and at peace and they are reinventing family values. They are conservationist in every sense and they will travel for the experience but they will not travel for opulent decor and gourmet food. They are looking for cultural travel and family travel at a sensible price.

Visitors are looking for good value and good environment and Bermuda is talking about palace suites and multi-million dollar condos which will damage the environment. That does not make good sense.

Yet there seems to be support from both the Minister of Tourism and the Progressive Labour Party for 39 multi-million dollar condos at Elbow Beach and for palace suites on the dunes but very little support for the concepts of cultural tourism which may well be the solution for the future. It may well be that extravagant concepts are not what visitors want now or in the future, and they certainly do not want ruined shorelines, and Bermuda and such operations as Elbow Beach are in the process of getting it wrong. Tourism is a constantly changing industry and resorts must meet demands in terms of facilities and in terms of price.

Bermuda's great asset and the real reason for its economic successes has been its ability to adapt to the market. It is being asked to adapt now.

Tourism is no longer the cash cow it once was because vacationers are no longer willing to pay any price you feel like asking. The picture has changed to quality and value at a time when Bermuda's quality and Bermuda's value were both in decline.

All of this is complicated by the long recession. There are now indications that the recession in the US could take a third dip and that even if it does not, there may be no significant relief from the recession for two years. It is going to be a long and hard haul and Bermuda must try to find the right answers.