By Philip Blenkinsop
BRAND, Germany (Reuters) - Bathers lounging on the beach flanked by exotic plants in the middle of a harsh German winter -- that is the vision of Malaysian businessman Colin Au.
Au is not a climate change forecaster, but the president of Tropical Islands, a vast airship hangar 37 miles south of Berlin which is to house a beach and pool complex guaranteeing tropical temperatures whatever the weather outside.
By Christmas, Au's vision should be reality.
Workmen are still busy with the final touches to the 460-foot-long pool and molding a hill where many of the 12,000 tropical plants, 500 species in all, will be set.
The trees and bushes started arriving this month, and the artificial sea, equivalent to four Olympic-sized swimming pools, is to be filled in November. The whole complex should be ready by mid-December.
Visitors will enter by a lagoon and waterfall and pass a rainforest to reach the beach or swing left to the village of authentic huts from Thailand, Malaysia, Bali, Polynesia, the Amazon and the Congo, with food from each available.
The complex will be kept at a constant 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
Au, the former head of Star Cruises, the world's No. 3 cruise firm, said the project was inspired by north Europeans', and especially the Germans', love of sun, sea and sand.
A chat with a German banking friend led him in February 2003 to insolvent airship maker Cargolifter and its vast blimp hangar -- Europe's largest free-standing hall, which administrators were looking to sell.
What Au saw met his requirements. The hangar is 1,181 feet by 689 feet, the size of eight football field, and at 351 feet high would comfortably accommodate the Statue of Liberty.
A little over a year later, Au and Malaysian gaming and power company Tanjong bought it and a surrounding 1,236 acres plot, a former Soviet air base, for $21.53 million -- less than a quarter of the hall's construction cost
The eastern state of Brandenburg is hopeful that the project will give the region a boost, not least by providing 500 jobs. The state's unemployment rate is 18.5 percent, well above the national average of just over 10 percent.
There is some skepticism that the venture will work after high-profile failures in the state such as that of the Cargolifter airship maker and a microchip factory at Frankfurt an der Oder.
"These have been mostly hi-tech things. All I know is the leisure industry," said Au.
Tropical Islands nevertheless needs 1.5 million visitors a year to break even. Its electricity bill alone will be sizable -- enough for a small town.
Au is upbeat about attracting 2.5 million visitors, saying the local area attracts 3 million to 4 million a year and that 10,000 beds are within just a 30-minute car ride away.
Berlin is within an hour's drive of the attraction, while some 16 million, including about 2 million Poles, could reach it in around three hours.
While there is a clear winter market, Au also believes his indoor island will lure visitors in summer too, even on sunny days, and particularly in the evenings, when exotic bands and dancers will be performing to a beachside audience.
Au sees the venture as a cross between the more adult-oriented horticultural Eden Project in England and child-focused theme parks.
"Tropical Islands is more neutral and will appeal to 90 percent of people," he said confidently.
A hotel, with around 400 rooms, may be built by 2008, but the operators expect some initial visitors will be happy to stay overnight in a tent on the beach. Tropical Islands will be open 24 hours a day.
A typical entry ticket for four hours will cost 15 euros ($18.45), or 40 euros ($49.20) for a family. ($1=.8129 Euro)