Premier Dr. Ewart Brown undoubtedly had a good day yesterday.

He announced the long-awaited land swap of the Southlands property for Morgan's Point where the Jumeirah resort, along with a championship golf course, could now be built.

And he also announced that the Park Hyatt will be the managers of the hotel for the former Club Med site in St. George's.

In addition, Dr. Brown has been able to enjoy the fact that although visitor arrivals to the Island slipped in the fourth quarter of last year, spending – the most important tourism statistic – surged, according to Government statistics.

All of that is very good news. The setting aside of land at Southlands for the public provides a useful green buffer in a part of the Island that is both highly scenic and heavily developed.

The use of Morgan's Point – although this newspaper would still prefer to see it kept as a park for the people of Bermuda – is a better alternative.

And the fact that something is happening in St. George's is very welcome indeed. It will bring relief to the town at a time when it faces the loss of thousands of cruise passengers and has struggled to draw other visitors.

So that's all to the good, and Dr. Brown deserves credit for getting these proposed developments this far.

As ever, yesterday's announcements were as notable for what they did not say as for what they did.

Dr. Brown declared: "The Government has demonstrated considerable acumen in securing pristine private land for public good."

That's certainly true, but ignores the fact that Dr. Brown was initially absolutely determined to develop that same pristine land, and said: "As one of the most ambitious and creative tourism projects in Bermuda's history, Jumeirah Southlands represents a winning proposition for Bermuda, its people and the tourism industry."

It was only after there was a storm of protest and former Premier Alex Scott's public proposal that a land swap be undertaken that Government changed direction.

Nor was there any more information yesterday over how much the environmental clean-up of Morgan's Point will cost, although the taxpayer will be footing the bill.

And the developers of the property refused to say what they had paid for Southlands initially.

That may be understandable on their part, but the fact is that Bermuda is swapping one piece of land for another, and the public has a right to know the financial value of the transaction.

With regard to Park Hyatt, the $294 million development will consist of a 100-room hotel and spa, and there will also be 40 fractional units and 140 Park Hyatt-branded condominiums.

That is a major development, but again, there is no information on how much land will be used for it, or to whom the condominiums in particular will be sold.

Nor was there much detail about the new 18-hole golf course which will now extend over the current St. George's public golf course "and over land alongside the ocean and Fort St Catherine's".

Financial terms of the 131-year lease were not made public either.

None of these issues are raised to be obstructionist. Few will argue with the idea that new, first class hotel properties will raise the bar for all of Bermuda tourism, or that St. George's in particular badly needs a hotel.

But, and this is particularly important given the full employment the Island already enjoys, the pressure under which its infrastructure is already groaning and the need to be prudent with the few resources – both in land and physical assets that it has – that these projects be thought through carefully and that they are in fact sustainable.

Given the long and tangled histories of both of these developments, it is surely worth waiting for more details before giving them a wholehearted endorsement.