Who would have thought that a summer job in a hotel storeroom at the age of 15 would spark, over a 38-year period, a highly successful career and "love affair" with the tourism industry?

And that today this success has resulted in the ownership of three sophisticated, four star beachside resorts the newest of which ? 9 Beaches which is scheduled to open in May ? is being designed to "bring the fun back into tourism in Bermuda"?

This has been the case for David Dodwell, 56, who in his high profile life wears several hats ? hotel owner and entrepreneur, politician and former Minister of Tourism, local company board director, former president and executive member of industry associations ? but who for all his professional life has always been passionate and optimistic about tourism in Bermuda.

"I love it, everything about it, most of all the people and interacting with them, both staff and guests," he says. "Good and bad, it's definitely my passion and I couldn't imagine doing anything else."

And he also readily admits with candour ? and without pushing his political agenda too hard ? that the opportunities he had to build his career and business here in the 1970s heydays of tourism came more easily to him as a white Bermudian than if he had been black.

"Yes, I had opportunities as a white Bermudian, which I was grateful for, that just weren't extended to black Bermudians at the time," he says. "I feel very strongly that as a country we need to address that issue. Things have changed to an extent but we obviously still need to do more.

"Some people might say it's just politics," he adds, having recently taking on the newly created Shadow Cabinet portfolio of Race Relations and Economic Opportunity which is regarded as a cynical ploy for votes in some quarters of the population, "but I think tackling this is what is right."

Politics aside, he has apparently already made a practical commitment to "do more" in that respect, undertaking in his industry the business-to-business mentoring which he articulates as one of the key points of the United Bermuda Party's so-called economic empowerment plan. He has also put a great deal of money where his mouth is in terms of his piece of Bermuda's tourism product.

His passion for tourism translated into initially working for a variety of hotels in summer jobs between 1967 and 1971; earning a BSc degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University; returning to Bermuda to work as front office manager at Cambridge Beaches; and in 1972, aged 24, being appointed as manager of The Reefs hotel, where he would soon find himself with a 20 percent stake in what was then a 43-room resort. Quite the meteoric rise for someone who had flirted, very briefly, with the idea of becoming an accountant.

"But I worked for one summer at one of the local accounting firms and it definitely wasn't for me," he says. "I don't like routine and no two minutes, never mind two days, were the same in my jobs in tourism."

His says his initial stake in The Reefs was offered as an incentive by the owner at the time to encourage Dodwell to stay with the property for five years.

"I had already been offered another job to run a major hotel here," he recalls, "but I basically I fell in love with the (Reefs) hotel and the people here, some of whom had started with the property when I was a child and are still here."

In 1981 when the owner decided to sell, he approached Mr. Dodwell who, at just 33, now faced the enticing prospect of owning the hotel outright.

"I had no money and equity money was scarce in Bermuda,' he says. "Eventually I went to two former guests of the hotel who put up financing; one of them is still involved."

Mr. Dodwell built up his stake over the following two decades and is now the majority owner of the hotel.

He has also over the years expanded the property to 65 rooms, suites and cottages and, despite the overall decline in visitor numbers and the downturn in Bermuda's tourism sector, The Reefs occupancies are consistently amongst the highest on the Island. The property has a loyal following among its customers over 50 percent of whom are repeat guests and the resort has been recognised with a clutch of consumer-rated hotel awards. Mr. Dodwell puts the hotel's continued success down to its employees.

"What has made this place is really the staff," he says. "Given the choice I would have a lower physical standard and a higher service standard. I would venture to say we have more Bermudians on staff than many hotels now and with that you get loyalty and stability and I like to think we reward our staff for that with our incentive plans and quite generous benefits."

He adds that the hotel expansion over the years has been driven by the expressed demands of guests. "All the changes have been based on constant monitoring of our guest comment sheets, which we get a roughly 70 percent return on, and interaction with the guests," he says.

He and his team replicate this approach to managing the hotel's sister property in the Caribbean, the Nevis Plantation Beach Club, which Mr. Dodwell originally saw as an opportunity to "spread The Reefs brand".

"What I set out to do was to look for a similar kind of hotel operation where the season was opposite to Bermuda," he says. "We could then drive guests and travel agents to that property and co-market the two resorts. Did it succeed? Well, they're two different destinations, people's expectations and likes are different.

"We're a more structured, conservative and traditional destination, while the Caribbean is willing to offer a different kind of experience. So the customer flow between the two wasn't in big numbers initially, but there has been some crossover and we have a lot more European guests at the Nevis property."

The nature of proposed further development at both resorts, however, is very similar as Mr. Dodwell has embraced the concept of fractional ownership and aims to offer this new option to his customers. "I've been following the growing trend in mixed-use developments in the industry for a number of years; now that we have the adjoining plot to The Reefs after wanting to buy it for 20 years we've settled on expanding to provide a private residence club."

The proposed expansion will include 21 two- and three-bedroom time share units as well as new areas for a spa, state-of-the-art kitchen, staff dining and relaxation facilities and housekeeping.

Mr. Dodwell says the $35 million development is "still in the planning application stage right now and is appropriate for Bermuda because it combines the best of both worlds since its not a matter of people just buying condos and that's the end of it.

"Our former guests will buy their time blocks and the units can also be used as part of the property, encouraging more people to come to Bermuda and having revenue stay here, and enhancing our overall product. This concept is the salvation of many resorts today and helps to drive new investment in the product."

His views on the need to focus on improving Bermuda's product, encompassing service quality, entertainment, transportation, as well as physical plant, are evident and well-known, regardless of whether he is wearing his entrepreneurial or political hat. And it's clear that he sees his involvement as a principal of the 9 Beaches resort as another opportunity to contribute to that process.

"It's been exciting, a group of people coming together who have taken a leap of faith to create a fun, funky, casual, water-centric resort," he says. "It's very different for Bermuda and we're targeting the 24-40 age demographic and young families looking for having fun outdoors in a very casual atmosphere. Guests will arrive by boat, and we've also applied for new boat moorings to encourage locals to come by boat.

"In fact we really want to encourage locals to come to the resort, we're absolutely open for residents and want to create an atmosphere that appeals to Bermuda.

"We've also created new positions that reflect what we want to achieve like the Director of Fun, and our tagline ? 'Flip Flops Required' ? emphasises what the resort is all about."

This is undoubtedly a major undertaking requiring a significant investment at a site that has already seen the failure of an eco-resort, in still difficult times for the tourism industry.

"(But) I love the challenge and working with change and I think we all need to re-focus in any way we can on tourism," says Mr. Dodwell. "When I started in the industry Bermuda's product was strong, there wasn't as much competition and Bermuda marketed itself on its reputation.

"But we didn't recognise and prepare for change in the industry that was coming at us, we were complacent. The whole country didn't recognise the competition building around us. And I think the beginning of the international business industry was the beginning of the Island losing touch with leisure tourism."

And what is his opinion, as a hotelier and businessman, of the new tourism strategy announced earlier this week by the Minister of Tourism Ewart Brown? Overall, he is fairly positive.

"I would support a plan that focuses on tourism appreciation and gets that into the hearts and minds of everyone in Bermuda, and we need to do that more," he says. "Also, a plan that continues to focus on upgrading Bermuda's product, from beaches to entertainment, to transportation as well as service; right now we're not competitive in that regard."

He continues to swap hats and juggle a very busy life and credits his wife Margarita and his five children David, 28, Brian, 27, Jenny, 21, Christina, 16 and Stephanie, 7, with helping him to relax in the limited downtime he has. "I have great support from my wife and family which to me is critical, any spare time I have I spend with them," he says.

"Margarita is involved in the business at the Reefs and she gives me strength; this industry is tough on relationships, I've been married twice now. My family is very important to me."

But it's clear he is still enjoying the challenge of his dual roles in business and politics and relishes the thought of driving change in both arenas. And he remains steadfastly optimistic about Bermuda's recovery as a tourism destination.

"Life is like a cocktail that changes ingredients every day and that's great," he says. "I think among our biggest challenges here in terms of tourism is changing mindsets; but the people here are too bright, we have too much to lose and we have so much to offer ? so ultimately, we will make things work."