A report carrying solid evidence that gaming will make it easier to attract foreign investment to Bermuda will be completed in the next four weeks.Gaming committee chairman of the Tourism Board, John Jefferis confirmed the report on the benefits of gaming will be finished in “about a month”.Earlier this week Finance Minister Bob Richards indicated the jury’s still out on the issue.“Unless we can see how it’s going to do that, unless we can look at some solid projects and economic models, we really don’t know,” he said.“It’s easy to say and it sounds plausible but to turn that into something real, you need to do some homework.”Regarding the report, Mr Jefferis said: “We’re working on a plan to provide more detailed knowledge of just exactly what would be the benefits of gaming will be.”He agreed that “getting these details clarified to some degree” is a must.“I’m afraid that all the advantages gaming would bring are not known, there’s a lot of misconceptions out there.“Our role is to highlight the advantages of gaming in Bermuda.”The Hotel Investors Survey commissioned by the Tourism Board reports 90 percent of the potential investors would find Bermuda more attractive to invest in if gaming was legal.A total of 31 interviews were conducted between September 17 and 22, 2012.A separate study found 82 percent of hoteliers said they were interested in acquiring a gaming licence. Most preferred gaming machines over casinos.“Clearly, the passing of legislation to allow gaming in Bermuda has been talked about, without success, for far too long,” said Mr Jefferis.Investors polled included developers with interest in a Bermuda project, regional interests and operators with more general interest globally.On the question of how quickly would their investment group be in position to make a decision on investing here, 34.5 percent said three months or less, 64.5 percent said it would take six months to a year.Based on the findings, Mr Jefferis said the report “clearly states gaming is an entity that would be attractive for investors”.When asked what happens next, he said: “Obviously the board is very eager to see new hotel development in Bermuda and anything that could be done to assist in making that happen would be a good thing.”While he admits that gaming is not the silver bullet for Bermuda’s tourism industry, ideally he would like to see a final decision sooner rather than later.“It’s not the answer to everybody’s troubles but it adds a new dimension, and if it’s formulated the right way it would be good for Bermuda’s image.“I believe there’s going to be referendum, I think the sooner the better, but these things take time.“It won’t just happen overnight, legislation has to be tabled first.”He was confident a referendum will be held by the end of the year.“It should have happened under the previous Government, we talked about it for a long time and in the end nothing ever happened.“It was a terrible thing especially during a recession when it would have provided tax revenues plus all the other revenue streams.“They missed the boat, the boat got washed up on the rocks but that doesn’t mean it cannot get back on track.“The new Government seem to be more proactive in getting it done,” said Mr Jefferis.“We are cognisant of our Island’s need to secure increases in revenues and most significantly to restore our position and reputation as a first class tourist resort destination, in this globally competitive environment. The introduction of gaming would be a “Game Changer” that will assist us in achieving this goal.”Asked what happens if the electorate votes ‘no’ to gaming he said: “I’m not even considering a ‘no’ vote.“I believe it will become a reality at some time, I’m not really worried about the down side.”He noted that even after the referendum there’s still a timeline between going to the polls and landing funds for development.With unemployment high he said the ailing construction industry would be one of the first to benefit in Bermuda’s economy.Ultimately he said: “It means work for construction workers out of work.”Either way he said it will be some time before anything comes to fruition in terms of investment.In the interim he said the good news is this is a turnaround year for tourism because “business is up for the hotels”.At Coco Reef business is up by 17 percent when compared to last year.He concluded: “We’re on the right track in improving occupancy and revenue.“Gaming would be another attraction and people with no interest in gaming won’t be affected because it’s a contained business.”And with gaming he said: “The weather is a non-issue, it’s a non-weather related endeavour.”During the off-season months, or the shoulder season, he said: “That could only be a major plus.”