Luxury hotel group Jumeirah would be contractually tied to Bermuda for 20 years with an option to extend their operating contract for the proposed Southlands resort until at least the middle of the century if the scheme is approved and built.

The hotel group is only 10 years old but has quickly established itself at the very top end of the market through its iconic establishments such as the sail-like tower hotel Burj al-Arab in Dubai, which is referred to as ?the world?s only seven-star hotel?.

Craig Christensen is one of the owners of Southlands Limited, which has formed a partnership with Jumeirah to bring an ambitious resort hotel and fractional ownership vacation units to the sprawling Southlands estate in Warwick.

Providing the scheme is granted a special development order it is anticipated work to build the two-phase hotel before the end of 2010 will begin immediately.

Mr. Christensen confirmed this week the link up with Jumeirah is secured for 20 years with an extension option for a further 20 years. And he said the prospect of Bermuda entering the five-star hotel market is one that makes good business sense for the Island if it is serious about re-establishing its pre-eminence as a world-leading tourist destination.

Explaining why Jumeirah was picked as the preferred hotel operator above more widely known luxury chains, he said: ?We interviewed other five-star operators and felt Jumeirah fit best. We did not want it to be another major chain hotel where you get the feeling of ?much the same? when you visit. Jumeirah?s slogan is ?stay different?.

?If you look at all their iconic hotels they are different. They look at this (Southlands) in terms of branching into the Americas. They are expanding and want to have 60 hotels by 2011. This is helping to put them on the market in the US.?

What has emerged as a key element of the Jumeirah Southlands scheme is the inclusion of fractional vacation ownership units, which make up 50 percent of all the accommodation units projected for the 311-suite resort.

Why so many fractionals?

?It was always part of the plan. I would say that virtually every hotel property that is being developed, because of the high costs of actually constructing those operations, all look towards some form of fractional or whole ownership units in order to help defray the actual capital costs of putting up a resort,? said Mr. Christensen.

The hotel will have seafront restaurants and apartments and a further main building set back on the northern side of South Road. South Road is to be realigned and directed beneath a land bridge to allow the resort to have unbroken, sloping grounds from the uppermost slopes of the woodland reserve hinterland to the beach.

Later this month the Southlands team will be travelling to Dubai to meet with Jumeirah