Is everyone involved in the Balearic tourist industry rowing in the same direction? I think not. There is choppy weather ahead and the people at the helm are steering in one direction and others on the oars are going their own way hence the industry is going around in circles and nothing is being achieved. What is worse is that it is on a collision course which is bad for everyone. The one fundamental point which no-one involved in tourism should forget is that the Balearics needs tourism to survive. At the moment the tourist industry is a bit like the Conservative Party in Britain, it was once a great organisation which has completely lost the plot, too busy squabbling, and worrying about issues of no real interest to anyone. Perhaps now is not a good time to quote a famous speech by John Major but what is needed, is back to basics. Balearics PLC must not continue to wash its dirty laundry in public. All involved in tourism should think before making speeches and not forget that the wellbeing of these islands should be their bottom line. I don't agree with the tourist tax at all but I am also aware that it was one of the key manifesto points of the party which is now in power. Perhaps it was a bad idea but the industry rather than offering some guidance and perhaps support opted for all out warfare. This is causing some real problems. The tax is not the reason why tourism has fallen, tourism is down because Germany is in recession. The Balearics has a fantastic opportunity to present a united front, at the World Travel Market in London next month and at the ABTA convention in Palma next October. It would be nice if the squabbling could stop and the Balearics could start hitting back rather than hitting itself.