The public debate over Southlands is being guided in a new direction.

The team of Bermudian developers who want to turn the historic green space into a cliff side resort have pored over tourism statistics and reviewed industry trends. And based on what they’ve uncovered so far, they’re convinced Southlands meets the standard of national importance.

The threshold of national importance is critical because the standard must be reached in order to be granted a special development order (SDO) from the Minister of Environment. Developer Craig Christensen invited The Royal Gazette to review the research, most of it came from the Government’s Department of Statistics.

He said: “We’re talking from a position of fact rather than perception and we want people to realise how much our tourism product has declined in terms of numbers. And hopefully the public will understand the absolute need to re-establish our tourism product.”

One statistical chart shows the extreme decline of hotel properties in the last two decades — from more than 100 in 1986 to 58 in 2006. Another chart reveals the sharp dip in hotel beds — from about 10,000 in 1986 to approximately 6,000 in 2006. Mr. Christensen said: “When we start looking at the number of beds Southlands can put back, which is 497, it starts to make a dent back towards the high of 10,000 rooms. It’s a real stretch for us to get anywhere near where we used to be, but we certainly can get a lot better.”

The 497 bed count number includes hotel suites and fractional ownership units. And for the first time today the Southlands developers have released a photo of what a typical fractional condominium will look like, should the SDO be granted.

For months the proposed Southlands development has taken heavy criticism from conservationists and the environmental lobby because the plan would partly infringe on legally protected open space. Opposition has been particularly organised of late with more than 3,200 people signing an anti-Southlands petition. Campaigners have also scheduled a march for Sunday on the south shore. A decision on the SDO request could come any day now from Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield.

When asked if the number presentation was a shell game to steer people away from the environmental debate Mr. Christensen said: “The building and revitalising of our hospitality business is a matter of urgent national importance for Bermuda and far outweighs the need to preserve some Mexican peppers on a hillside in Warwick.”

Part of the reason the Southlands developers are making their case now is because they believe the timing is uniquely right. They’ve been reading the headlines of increased demand — tourism numbers are up overall — and more flight options — Zoom Airlines to London, JetBlue to Boston and American Airlines with increased service to Miami. Plus they see a wave of high-end resort operators lining up to do business in Bermuda — the Ritz Carlton in Hamilton, Hilton at Ariel Sands and St. Regis at the former Club Med. Jumeirah of Dubai fame would run the Southlands resort as a five-star facility.

Mr. Christensen said: “Timing is absolutely critical now, we need to grab the opportunity while the market is moving in the right direction for Bermuda. We used to be a leader in the tourism product throughout the Caribbean. We seem to look to the south to figure out where all the nice luxury products are instead of looking in our own backyard.”

Mr. Chistensen is an accountant who once worked in the tourism industry himself. Like hundreds of others he left the industry to capitalise on Bermuda’s lucrative financial services industry. Those who left tourism can’t be criticised for walking away, dozens of properties shut down over the past 20 years — Club Med, Bermudiana Hotel and Wyndham are just a few.

The Southlands developers argue the re-emerging success of tourism has the power to economically strengthen the entire country — even for those outside of the industry.

Mr. Christensen said: “When a tourism dollar is being expended it goes out into a far reaching portion of the economy. It’s sprinkled among taxi drivers, tour operators, golf courses. The common vernacular that used to be used was ‘when tourism dollars came in it rained on the whole community’.”