St. George's has completed phase one of its plan to turn the town into a mega-yacht destination and is already seeing results.

Mark Soares, owner of Bermuda Yacht Services, has adapted the cruise ship terminal building on Ordnance Island into a lounge for visiting yachtsmen, complete with couches and wireless Internet.

"We get around 1,000 yachts visiting the Island every year. It's a really big number," he said. "As word spreads, more yachts will come. It's a great concept for the town, a great source of income. It's just a diversifying of the St. George's package cruise ships are still visiting, the hotels are still here. It's just another pillar."

Mr. Soares was hired by the Corporation of St. George in 2008. He has since established a concierge service for boaters and is working to make the town's infrastructure more attractive to them. He also travels abroad, marketing Bermuda as a destination.

"The yacht and marine trade in [the Caribbean island] St. Martin [offers] everything from the docks to maintenance to grocery stores that serve the yachts. [It] makes up to 17 percent of their employment. It's a yachting mecca. We're not going to be a mecca, but it shows you what you can do."

Although the number of yachts visiting the Island has remained constant, more are docking in St. George, and more appear to be staying longer, Mr. Soares claimed.

He hopes to move to the next phase of development in the coming months and this includes introducing shore power, which would provide electricity for visiting yachts and shower facilities and better signage around the town.

"We would love to have phase two in place by March 2010," he said.

"The corporation and the mayor have been 100 percent behind us, and we have proved to them through this trial that we can produce results."

If phase two proves successful, the next move would be the construction of a purpose-built facility for yachts similar to the one planned at the West End.