Bermuda is set to lose a top-ranked local member of its tourism industry next month when he heads overseas to take up a new post.

Ariel Sands' Club and Cottages general manager Jason Powell is heading to Greenwich, Connecticut to take up a post at the prestigious Indian Harbour Yacht Club.

Mr. Powell, who has overseen the two-year, $6 million refurbishment of the Devonshire property, stressed that the move was not about heading for greener pastures. "Ariel Sands is going from strength to strength,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

"We have come to the end of our renovations here now. We have spent $6 million in the last two years on upgrading the whole property.'' And the work is reaping big dividends for Ariel Sands, he added. "Our occupancies are 25 percent higher now than last year. You cannot get a room here in May or June and July and August are looking just as strong.'' Mr. Powell admitted that because of the success the hotel was enjoying, he wished the timing of his move could be different.

"If I had it my way, I would spend the rest of the year here to enjoy the success the hotel is now having.

"It's a shame to have to leave in the middle of all this excitement.'' Instead it is personal reasons which takes the Bermudian to the US.

"My wife Sonya has been accepted by the University of Columbia to do her Masters Degree in Industrial Psychology so we are moving up to Greenwich.

"It will be about a 45 minute commute for her and I will be running the yacht club. This fits our needs right now.'' The move will mean Mr. Powell managing a yacht club instead of a hotel. "It will be a totally different animal,'' he noted. "It will give me a taste of doing something different.'' Since returning to the Island from his studies in Europe some ten years ago, Mr. Powell has worked at Bristol Cellars, Glencoe Harbour Club and Southampton Princess in a variety of managerial roles.

He then joined Ariel Sands -- at around the same time that movie star Michael Douglas got involved with the property -- and since that point has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top. Mr. Powell has not ruled out returning to Bermuda.