considered a growth period marked by excess.'' That is one of the statements from a speech made by Mr. David L. Edgess, senior executive director of the US Travel and Tourism Administration, delivered to a tourism assessment seminar in the US Virgin Islands. We have been writing about the speech because it appears to pertain so aptly to Bermuda.

We agree with him that the 80s was a tourism growth period marked by excess but the fact is that during the 1980s Bermuda's tourism began its decline. We could not maintain our tourism in a period of big spending and a tolerance for high prices. Why? Because we went a long way to damage the confidence of US travel agents in the certainty of our product by the huge strike in 1981. That strike followed Bermuda's most successful tourism year ever, 1980, and marks the beginning of problems in tourism. High prices were not an overriding problem in the 1980s because people were willing to pay, but fears that a happy holiday night be ruined by labour unrest caused people to think twice about Berrmuda and some did not take the chance. When you recognise that fact, you understand just how serious a situation Bermuda faces now.

Added to that, the "excess'' was bad for the development of Bermuda because it led us to believe that people would continue to pay any amount and accept any standard. It caused Bermudians to expect high compensation while lowering standards and it led hotels to increase rates while not worrying too much about their standards.

The picture has now changed, leaving Bermuda with high prices at a time when the public is being careful with the cash and demanding quality. The free spending 1980s are not coming back. The careful and questioning 1990s are here.

Today's travelling public is also demanding other things. According to Mr.

Edgell they also want cultural diversity, specialised travel that offers flexibility and variety and often rural tourism. Bermuda is not too bad with all that except perhaps rural tourism. Bermuda can provide cultural diversity as long as it is careful about Americanisation and works to protect its architecture and its environment, none of which it does very well at the moment.

Mr. Edgell says people are looking to special sporting events like fishing, golf and scuba diving. Bermuda can certainly supply those. However there are problems with fishing and golf. Fishing, deep sea fishing at any rate, is expensive and uncertain and the golf courses are often crowded with locals.

He says that the 1990 visitor also wants the historic aspects of visiting another culture. Bermuda is beginning to move toward cultural tourism, but slowly.

Mr. Edgell says that tourism economies must be able to adjust to chaotic changes. We certainly do not seem to be able to do that and much too often appear to have a tourism policy rooted in the 1960s. We run Bermuda to suit Bermudians and hope visitors will take it rather than leave it. There are three prime examples of how Bermuda gets it wrong. The Bermuda Industrial Union still thinks that the fat of 1980 is on the table to be carved up, the Elbow Beach wants to build palace suites on the dunes in response to the excesses of the 1980s and Government increases taxes on visitors.