Editor which appeared in yesterday's issue of this newspaper. It is an open letter to those people who work in tourism or are concerned about the tourism industry. In our view that ought to be every Bermudian.

Mr. Guthrie's message is that during a short vacation at Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island he "constantly and consistently'' found better attitudes among those providing tourism services than he generally encounters here in Bermuda. He makes the point that good facilities are not the only thing needed to improve Bermuda's tourism performance. Mr. Guthrie, of course, is with Elbow Beach where millions and millions are being poured into the buildings and other general improvements.

"I can say from experience and observation that we here can spend every penny we own on bricks and mortar but the facilities that we build will not of themselves revitalise our tourism industry. We must also change our attitude and start welcoming those who pay our pay cheques,'' he has said.

Mr. Guthrie notes that Bermuda is one of the most beautiful places in the world with many polite and considerate people and the highest standard of living in the Western Hemisphere, and asks, "...why does one encounter so many people here with an arrogant, unhelpful, even hostile attitude?'' It is all too easy to find those attitudes in Bermuda and they are often fostered by taking politics to work and by the often repeated message that Bermuda is a terrible place where most people are badly done by.

Mr. Guthrie's theory seems to be that where gratuities are earned they are earned by a pleasant attitude but where they are handed out with no effort they are worth far less. We find that very interesting since Mr. Guthrie lists himself as the "owner's representative'' at Elbow Beach.

We have no doubt that he is partially correct in his theory. However, the situation is more complex. Gratuities are handed out for no effort in Bermuda and taken for granted but so is what Mr. Guthrie calls "the highest standard of living in the Western Hemisphere''. We are prone to being careless about that standard of living. We were careless for some years with tourism because it seemed as if the glory days would last forever. We killed the good tourism times and now we are sorry. The same can happen to the high standard of living.

Mr. Guthrie's remarks will not be appreciated in some sectors which do not take criticism well and he will doubtless be criticised himself by people who have been disrupting the tourism industry for years. But we all have to remember that a fair number of people in Bermuda's tourism industry are not Bermudian and tend to take the money today because they have no real stake in Bermuda tomorrow.

People write letters to the Editor in praise of the way they have been treated in Bermuda or in gratitude to some kind person, often a taxi driver, who helped them out in a bad situation. Very few write in praise of the wonderful time and the good treatment they have received in hotels and restaurants.

There are restaurants where, as Mr. Guthrie says, you are treated as if you are a "nuisance''. There are also shops where the reaction is, "Take it or leave it.'' There are bus drivers and taxi drivers who are so rude as to make you wish you had never entered the vehicle.

Bermudians learn to avoid the places and situations where the attitude is bad but visitors are not so fortunate. They do not have local knowledge to protect them.