"Cruising for a bruising'' must have caused Tourism Ministry officials and people in the tourist industry great concern. Written by a cruise ship staff member who clearly knows Bermuda well, it tried to tell it like it is.

It paints a colourful picture of what Bermuda offers visitors which, if anywhere near true, is nothing short of a disaster. One brutal paragraph is enough to get across the thrust of the long letter which we ran in its entirety because it is important for Bermudians to know how others see Bermuda. Sometimes everyone needs a sharp shock.

The paragraph said, "Overpriced menus, amateur performers, early closing shops, skyrocketing cab fares, dried out golf courses, $25 dollar T-shirts, $6 drinks, monkey puppets, stale Cuban cigars, and 15 percent add on gratuities will never bring in what this Island used to bring in, tourists.'' That, of course, is not the whole picture of Bermuda. There are many visitors, especially repeat visitors, who look for Bermuda to be quiet and staid and who want it to go to bed early and would never be caught dead in the Oasis.

As a result of the letter, one German visitor telephoned to tell us that if we want to be a success and attract quality visitors then we have to do the opposite of things suggested in this Visitor's View. She said she comes here because of what Bermuda is now, quiet, friendly, elegant, rich and lacking in poverty. She does not want a place geared for cruise passengers.

We accept that but there is room to please both sectors. "A fed up employee'' seems, basically, to be complaining about the lack of entertainment and the low standard of what does exist...."were it not for Jimmy Keys, you'd have nothing truly professional on this Island at all''. Jimmy Keyes is leaving.

The days when Bermuda had a great deal of local entertainment and top name international performers are long gone. Every hotel had a night club. At least two night clubs had big stars. You could move around nightly from show to show.

The fashion moved to disco and the Princesses imported The Follies. Yet the downturn could not recover because of the complaints by local performers who demanded work. Once employed they did not draw a crowd and the hotels and especially the bars gave up on imported entertainment because work permits were difficult. The Ministry of Immigration, largely in the days of John Irving Pearman, did not understand the needs of Island tourism. Because of the hassles and the expense of double booking, no one worked, including night club staff, and the visitors went to other, more entertaining resorts.

But entertainment is not the whole problem. If "A fed up employee'' is correct, there is also a good deal of poor management going on.

"Sexual harassing bouncers'', "dance floors full of broken glass'', "fights with the patrons''...that can be cured by the Liquor Licensing Authority and the Ministry of Health.....

Hurry up. It's time.