Today's news that the Hilton hotel chain plans to redevelop the Ariel Sands resort into a "Hilton Grand Vacation Club" resort should be welcomed.

As movie star and part owner of the resort Michael Douglas said yesterday, the past two decades have been difficult for cottage colonies and certainly no one can fault Mr. Douglas and his fellow Dill family owners for lack of effort or investment in the Devonshire property.

Indeed, since Mr. Douglas became personally involved in Ariel Sands, millions of dollars have been invested in new facilities and upgrades.

But it is one thing for an individual to promote a resort ? and Mr. Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones are about as world famous as it is possible to get ? and another for a major hotel chain with a marketing budget in the hundreds of millions to throw its weight behind a property.

Bermuda still has a good deal to learn about the vacation club concept, seemingly the newest addition to the tourism lexicon, but the idea that the property will be available to more than 100,000 members who can be marketed to directly seems encouraging.

It is also good news that the property will be expanded and will receive additional beds in a modern property. This is desperately needed for the Bermuda hotel sector and this proposal is a welcome addition, assuming it is approved by Planning and other regulators.

It is encouraging too that Bermuda is again on the radar screen of major hotel chains.

Hilton now joins Fairmont, Mandarin Oriental and Wyndham among the major investors in Bermuda properties, and while chains may lack the charm of cottage colonies like Ariel Sands, Cambridge Beaches and the Reefs, they bring strengths of their own, not least their marketing muscle.