According to the Ministry of Tourism, the world media was responsible for the slump in tourism arrivals in the first three months of the year because of the way in which it "sensationalised" the risks of travelling during the Gulf War and the height of the SARS crisis.

Fortunately, Tourism Minister Renee Webb, who is not always known for her moderate speech, is much calmer in her statement in today's paper. She acknowledges that the war, SARS and the sluggish global economy all contributed to the downturn but made no mention of media sensationalism.

That's good, because the media's coverage of two events that were in fact, sensational, was fair and balanced and careful. But rightly, it was reported that there were risks in travelling at the time, both from terrorism and from the risk of SARS infection.

Ms Webb added that visitors from North America and Europe has spent just under $30 million in the quarter, which she said showed that the Ministry's marketing campaign was working. That remains to be seen: According to the visitor spending statistics released for the first quarter last of 2002, the 41,000 visitors who came spent $40 million. But spending numbers are difficult to compare and it would be wise to wait for Government's Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics to come out before the end of this month to really compare apples with apples.

What it does prove is that the hopes that Bermuda would prove to be a safe haven for visitors in times of strife have now been shown, definitively, to be unfounded. When Americans in particular decide not to travel, they decide not to travel anywhere, including Bermuda. That means Bermuda needs to keep focusing on improving its tourism product and competitiveness and needs to stop looking for scapegoats.

What is encouraging is that the Bermuda Hotel Association says that May and June have been very strong for hotel occupancies and that they should bring the year so far up to expectations.

That shows that once travel fears subside, Bermuda is a viable destination, at least in the summer months.