Bermuda could benefit from following the Monaco model, according to hotelier John Jefferis.

And this would include a mega-yacht marina and glamorous casino as well as harbour front dining, the owner of Coco Reef hotel believes.

Mr. Jefferis — who expects to begin construction on 66 leaseback villas on the Coco Reefs property within the year — said Bermuda needs to look at ways of innovating its tourism product instead of looking at what worked in the past.

And he came out in support of gambling. “I think Bermuda should adopt the Monaco model,” he said.

“It should be easier for people to buy accommodation on the Island. There should be a glamorous casino, not like something from Las Vegas. There should be dining on the waterfront and boutiques. There should be a mega-yacht marina; all of this makes people go to Monaco. All this would add vibrancy to Bermuda and with our proximitly to the US it would be successful.

“I think the Monaco model is the way forward. We live in different times; we need a paradigm shift where we adopt a new way forward.

“A lot of people think we can dwell on what worked before, but there has to be new thinking and I believe in the Monaco model. There are some who don’t, but Bermuda needs to move forward.”

As for gambling Mr. Jefferis said he believed Hamilton would be the best location for a casino, particularly if the waterfront were turned into an upscale dining and boutique area.

His views echo those in the recently released Government Green Paper on gambling which stated a single casino in Hamilton as the best option for Bermuda. The report was based on information gathered by research company Innovation and an independent Bermuda Task Force on Gaming headed by lawyer Wendell Hollis.

Former Premier John Swan has also recommended Bermuda move forward with a city casino, but has denied that his building, Seon Place, will have space dedicated to one.

Mr. Jefferis added: “If I was to have ownership of a casino I would have 30 percent of the shares sold to Bermudians, 20 percent would be available to hotels and the remaining 50 percent would be for the owner. That way everyone will feel involved.”

Plans put forward by the Corporation of Hamilton for a waterfront redevelopment in Hamilton were promising he said.

“But things need to happen, at the moment everyone just seems to be talking.”

Tourism figures have been gloomy recently — showing that air arrivals have fallen from 491,035 in 1980 to 235,860 in 2009. Visitor spending fell 23 percent last year and hotels were forced to drop prices in a bid to up occupancy figures. Hotels dropped prices by 50 percent in some cases and at one point the Fairmont Southampton offered rooms for as low as $139. In the end hotels reported an overall occupancy rates of 51 percent, an eight percentage point drop from the previous year.

Mr. Jefferis said he believes things will improve but it will take a while to return to the hotel rates of pre-2007, which regularly cost tourists $500 a night

“We have actually done OK this winter,” he said. “We have done a lot of advertising and saw occupancy increase, but I have to add that is also because we lowered our room rates.

“I think this summer will be better than last year, but I think it will be four years until hotels will be able to charge what they did.”

Government has encouraged the public to review the Green Paper on gambling and submit formal comments to greenpaper@gov.bm or the Cabinet Office on Front Street. The document can be viewed on the Government’s website under the Cabinet Office section at www.gov.bm