Casinos could help save Bermuda's hotel industry which "will not survive" unless radical steps are taken, a top hotelier warned last night.

Managing director of Bermuda's Fairmont hotels and resorts Norman Mastalir told a United Bermuda Party forum on gaming that the Island must move with the times and consider the idea.

"For goodness sakes, let's save the tourism industry, let's save the jobs and tour boats and everyone who depends on this for their livelihood and on this business being viable as we go forward," he urged.

He said the industry has been pressing for years to have gaming in Bermuda examined, and it was "music to our ears" when Premier Dr. Ewart Brown finally embraced the subject.

Mr. Mastalir was part of a task force appointed by the Premier to examine the issue last year.

The resulting green paper recommends that a casino be permitted in Bermuda and some of the revenue generated used to tackle social ills associated with gambling. It is due to be debated after Parliament resumes on May 7, and today is the deadline for public submissions on the document.

Mr. Mastalir told the meeting last night: "The hotel industry has been losing money at a staggering rate steadily over the last ten years and an unbelievable aggregate loss in the tens of millions for 2009.

"The existing hotel industry will not survive unless something changes, and something changes dramatically. There will be no hotel construction in this country unless something changes, and something changes dramatically."

Stressing the need to generate new revenue, he pointed to statistics indicating that gaming could attract up to 100,000 more visitors per year and boost hotel occupancy from the 52 percent experienced last year to "the high 70s." Visitor spending could be boosted by $30 to $50 million.

Also addressing the meeting was local businessman Neil Inchup Jr, the owner and operator of Club Azioné in Hamilton. He used to own Plush, a members-only club on Parliament Street with gaming machines, as well as a number of other machines in bars across the Island,

However, his $1 million-a-year gaming machine enterprise was destroyed by the introduction of legislation banning them in 2004 when the Progressive Labour Party was led by Premier Jennifer Smith.

The green paper issued by Dr. Brown's Government recommends that in addition to hotels being allowed to operate in-house casinos, there is potential for a stand-alone casino to be established along the waterfront in Hamilton, preferably run by a well-known international operator.

But Mr. Inchup said while he favours gambling in Bermuda, it should be in the hands of locals, not foreigners.

"This is where I have a problem, " he said. "At one time we were operating little casino houses in Bermuda. This Government told us we had to get out of the business. Some years later the same Government wants to come and operate the exact same business.

"They have not come to ask your opinion about it. They have not included you, but they want to operate the same type of business. I find that unfair. I was one of the operators who was in the business. This green paper should have included us. We have some rights. We should have some dialogue. We are just being told Government wants to bring gaming back into Bermuda."

The meeting also heard from two members of United for Change, a fellowship of more than 70 churches that launched on Wednesday to oppose gaming in Bermuda.

Pastor Mark Hall argued that gaming flies against the idea of a work ethic, promotes irrational spending, and preys on the poor and "those with a lack of discipline".