United States a woman dentist who had arrived in Bermuda to look over hotels for a large dental meeting group. The woman arrived without sufficient identification and appears to have had only a driving licence which is not proof of anything except that the bearer is considered able to drive. The situation is complicated because this kind of thing or something quite similar seems to have happened on several other occasions recently.

There are several factors involved here. It is most unfortunate that she was sent home at a time when Bermuda needs every visitor it can get and her rejection at the Airport could mean that a large group chooses another destination. However, Immigration does need proof of citizenship because situations can arise where people are not who they say they are and are not welcome back in the country they arrived from. Such people can become an enormous problem for Bermuda. Immigration officers have regulations they are required to follow. If Immigration reject people who are important to Bermuda but who have arrived with inadequate papers there is criticism. If Immigration allows into Bermuda people who cause a problem, everyone asks, "Where was Immigration?'' It's not easy. In the present case there must have been a slip-up at check-in in the United States because it is our experience that airlines are very careful to be sure that papers are in order before they let you fly to Bermuda.

For some time now we have had doubts about the warmth of the welcome visitors get at our Airport. The terminal is a visitor's first impression of Bermuda and it does not say "start a happy holiday''. Too often it says "stand over here in our line while we check you out.'' We have too great a tendency to check visitors out, then search them and then to say "we hope you like Bermuda''. Bermuda is a vacation resort, not an Iron Curtain remnant. People understand that they have to have their papers checked but it should be done in such a way that it is welcoming and not official or in any way threatening.

The attitude should be one of getting people in and not one of keeping people out.

When there is a problem with a visitor, we think there should be a "hot line'' to a higher authority who can make a judgment which might contravene the strict rule. That seems to be the only way the woman dentist problem might have been avoided. Tourism today is a tough business and we have to do everything we can to compete. We need to learn to make the maximum effort to protect tourism and not to, rather casually, damage our visiting guests. This kind of thinking needs to extend from the Ministry of Tourism to Immigration and from the Bermuda Industrial Union to hotel managers and from bus drivers to policemen. Individuals need to think tourism on a daily basis because that's the way of life we all have, tourism.