The renaissance in tourism this season has sparked plans for a Paget resort to build around 66 luxury holiday apartments.

John Jefferis, owner of Coco Reef, announced the news after what he labelled as an ?exceptional year? for the resort.

Occupancy exceeded 90 percent every month from March onwards ? up more than a third on the previous year.

Mr. Jefferis credited Department of Tourism successes this year such as luring low-budget airline JetBlue to the Island, subsidised TNT Vacation charter flights and advertising with the boost, as well as Coco Reef?s own marketing.

He said Bermuda had experienced the ?best year ever recorded? in 2006 when it came to a year-on-year increase in visitors.

Instead of 55 condos in two eight storey buildings on a site currently occupied by tennis courts, Mr. Jefferis wants to build around 66 units in a multi-storey building.

This will be marketed on a ?lease back basis,? which means they will belong to Coco Reef for a minimum of six months in the year to rent, and be the owner?s for the rest of the year.

The site on the eastern side of Coco Reef, around 100 yards from the beach, already has in-principle planning permission from the Development Applications Board. Mr. Jefferis could not confirm how tall the new buildings would be at this stage, but said the formal planning application has gone in and full details, including the total number of units, should be available within three weeks.

He hopes the apartments ? which will be kitted out with luxuries including marble floors and hi-tech electronic equipment ? will be ready to open within two years. ?We need the hotel accommodation. Business has been extremely good. We always thought there was going to be a resurgence in tourism but it?s come much faster than expected,? said Mr. Jefferis.

In addition to the new units, a 150-seat beach bar and grill will also be constructed at the western tip of the Coco Reef property.

Final planning approval has been granted for the multi-tiered building, which should be ready to open by May 2007.

?It?s going to be a casual, Caribbean-style bar. We will be looking to both the local and tourist market as well as our own hotel guests,? said Mr. Jefferis.

The news comes on the heels of Coco Reef Resort & Spa in Tobago being recognised at the prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA) ceremony as The Caribbean?s Leading Hotel. Tourism figures for the period April to June 2006 showed cruise visitors increased by 48 percent compared to 2005 and air arrivals by almost ten percent.