would have been shattered. That is no longer true. The diversification of Bermuda's economy from one devoted heavily to tourism, to one where tourism and the international business sector are of similar importance, has been hugely successful. That is not to suggest that further diversification is unnecessary nor is it to suggest that there is no work to be done.

There is no doubt that the entire Country should continue to be concerned about declining tourism. However there are encouraging signs. The Monitor review is well under way. There is a Five Year Plan which shows forward thinking. Visitor spending seems to be showing a sustained increase. There is hope for new management at the long empty Club Med, exciting signs of new tourist activity both at Daniel's Head and at Par-la-Ville Park and movement toward new ownership of the Princess Hotels, one of which needs a major overhaul.

The United Bermuda Party government sat by and watched a steady decline in tourism for some 17 years and now seems to be trying to spread the blame around to other people. One senior Cabinet Minister, who has been a part of the Government during all the 17 years of tourism's decline, recently accused this newspaper of damaging tourism. For years now, Government has been happy to point the finger of blame but unwilling, or unable, to seek solutions.

Be that as it may, cruise ship arrivals are up and the present Minister of Tourism does understand that there is a problem and is willing to work very hard toward solutions. There are signs that the public is concerned and willing to help and that even the tourist industry itself now knows that you will meet customer resistance if you deal in increasing prices and decreasing service and facilities.

While hotel jobs are decreasing, there is a notable increase in the construction sector. For many years now Bermuda has found it convenient to spur on construction in order to keep up employment and also to find jobs for those people being released from the hotel sector or graduating from schools without education. However much of the building does reflect increased offshore company business and demands for top office space. But the construction industry is notoriously cyclical and good management is necessary to ensure the current boom is not followed by a bust similar to the one which accompanied the recession in the early 1990s.

Still, the result is a strong economy with employment income up by 6.6 percent so far this year and increased retail sales at a time of very low inflation.

There is no government which would not be proud of those results.