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When the Premier stood up in the House of Assembly on Wednesday to gloat about improved tourist figures, it was not hard to feel that the gloating was justified.

After years of decline and frustration - both in the waning years of the last UBP governments and the early years of the PLP era - it is clear that key elements of an industry revival are at long last falling into place.

Arrival figures are up, major upscale hotels are being built and being planned while many older properties are being dramatically improved, more airlines are flying into Bermuda from more places, and new top-flight sports and entertainment events are being attracted to Bermuda.

Plenty of problems remain, and the improvements have involved plenty of "collateral damage" - most notably the destruction of far too much of the quaint and scenic Bermuda that tourists come to enjoy in the first place.

But there's no denying that Dr. Ewart Brown has relentlessly and successfully pursued his "pop and sizzle" vision of Bermuda tourism, first as Transport Minister and, for more than three years now, as Tourism Minister as well.

Of all the things that have changed in Bermuda tourism over those years, the most remarkable has been the dramatic drop in the cost of actually getting to the island.

It is a change that has benefited tourists and everybody who works in the tourism industry - with the obvious exception of travel agents.

It is a change that has almost no ugly side effects, unlike hotel development, for example, or larger cruise ships.

The main side effect for Bermudians, in fact, has been entirely wonderful: Lower airfares for all of us.

By coincidence, exactly three years ago this week I wrote a column complaining about airfares to Bermuda, and making the rather obvious argument that getting them lowered was key to turning tourism around.

That column listed some of the airfares New Yorkers were looking at as they planned their vacations - and the short hop to Bermuda cost more than almost anywhere else. No wonder New Yorkers were choosing to go almost anywhere else.

I repeated the exercise this week using the same rules: A two week vacation, leaving mid-week from New York, booked two weeks in advance on mainstream airlines.

The difference is amazing: Bermuda has gone from being the highest priced destination to one of the second-lowest. It would be the lowest, in fact, if only non-stop flights were considered: The $254 Puerto Rico price involved one stop; the cheapest non-stop flight was $302.

These flights are all on "regular" airlines, which is still how most people travel. But the 2007 picture doesn't change much when you look at discount airlines.

For the same period, for example, JetBlue was offering tickets to Bermuda at $129, returning to New York at $99 (a total of $228 before fees and taxes). JetBlue offered an assortment of flights between New York and Puerto Rico every day, but the cheapest was $174 out and $99 back, for a total of $263 before fees and taxes).

Of course, low-cost airlines are a key difference between 2004 and 2007 airfares to Bermuda.

Three years ago, none of them were flying to Bermuda - although USA3000 had promised to introduce a flight from Baltimore at $79 each way later that year, and JetBlue had applied for permission to fly to the island from New York City.

As soon as USA3000 started flying, US Airways - its only competitor on the Baltimore route - dropped its fares to match, at least on the two days a week that USA3000 was flying.

The same has happened in New York City - though JetBlue flying every day - other airlines have been forced to offer lower prices every day of the week.

And there's every indication that the blessings are spreading. JetBlue plans to start a flight from Boston in May, and budget Zoom Airlines has applied to start a twice-weekly route from London in June.

We have been fortunate, too, that major airlines have responded by lowering fares rather than pulling out. We've been given the best of both worlds: Reduced fares of new budget airlines, and the vast route systems, aircraft and infrastructure of the established players.

What's more, the low-priced airlines serving Bermuda haven't been flying run-down cattle wagons. They've generally had newer aircraft and provided better entertainment and food service than their higher-cost rivals.

There are thousands of elements in the revival of Bermuda tourism, just as there were thousands in its earlier decline. Many of them we will never know or understand.

But it is clear that one of the most important factors in drawing visitors to Bermuda or scaring them away is the price of flying here.

It's hard to imagine how any Minister of Tourism could have stopped the long slow tourism slump with the airfares of just three years ago.

Now all things seem possible.

And for that, the Premier has every reason to gloat.[[In-content Ad]]

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