Is it a bird? Is it a flying banana? NO - it's the new Jersey logo!

So finally, after 18 months and some £240,000, it's official. A new brand image for Jersey. The final version has hardly changed at all from the version I saw about a year ago, so I'm not sure what all the consultation achieved.

Anyway, as predicted by Senator Walker, it's a great opportunity for the critics to have a bash. Descriptions ranging from flying bananas to an oil slick (!) have already started to appear on various Jersey forums and I am sure there will be plenty more from where that came from.

I wrote about this back in January - click here to see the post - and expected to see changes from the original, but the design team have stuck firm and presumably the consultations they held with local groups did little to change their thinking.

From my point of view - it works fine. I am particularly pleased to see that 'Life Enriching' has been retained as the strap line. The fact is that this island is rich - in all senses of the world, including financially. Why should we be ashamed of that? Richness brings with it so many benefits - whether as a resident or as a visitor. You don't see Monaco trying to conceal from the world that it's a rich place - so why should we?

So well done to the team responsible. Now we need to get behind the brand and deliver on the promises suggested by 'Life Enriching'. The team that designed this brand produced New Zealand's '100% Pure' idea - if we can enjoy half the success that country has achieved from their new image, then we should be very content.

Mauritius - Sweet dreams are made of this!

Just back from two weeks holiday with the family to Mauritius - somewhere I have always wanted to go and it certainly lived up to all our expectations. Beautiful scenery; safe, clean beaches; high quality hotels; friendly people who enjoy giving good service & excellent food combining a whole range of different styles from Asian to Creole. We didn't stray far from our resort but enjoyed snorkelling on the reef and visiting some other nearby beaches. The perfect tonic.

And this is an island where tourism is really going places. Since the demise of the sugar cane industry, the tourism industry has taken on huge importance and is growing like topsy. Tourist arrivals in 2006 totalled 788,000 with almost two-thirds coming from Europe. And in the first 3 months of this year tourist arrivals are +16.6% with the UK the third biggest market for the island. The forecast for the whole of 2007 is for around 850,000 tourist arrivals. More than 25,000 local people are employed in the industry - a growth of 25% in 4 years.

New hotels are under development and airline capacity is increasing significantly with bigger aircraft and greater frequency. Later this year Virgin Atlantic start a twice-weekly service from London, adding another 900 seats a week.

We can dream of growth like that here in Jersey - or government and industry together could make it a reality. Time will tell.