The tourism veteran who heads up both of Bermuda’s Fairmont hotels is leaving the Island after 13 years.Norman Mastalir, who is well known for promoting Bermuda’s tourism industry, is heading back to Canada at the end of July. He has been transferred to another Fairmont property in the ski-resort of Whistler, British Columbia.Mr Mastalir has been general manger of the Fairmont Southampton since 1998 and was appointed managing director of both Bermuda hotels in 2001.His transfer comes less than a month after Jon Crellin, the general manager of The Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, resigned after nearly five years in the job. Mr Crellin will leave at the end of this month and return to North America.Mr Mastalir has been a stanch supporter of introducing gambling to the Island. He has been quoted as saying Bermuda’s hotel industry has been losing money for a decade, and will not survive unless changes are made. He has held pro-gaming presentations urging Bermuda not to be “behind the rest of the world”.In the House of Assembly earlier this month, Tourism Minister Patrice Minors announced Mr Mastalir would head the Bermuda Hospitality Institute’s new board of directors.Mr Mastalir joined Fairmont in 1988 and has more than 25 years of hotel management. Prior to joining Fairmont, he was the general manager at the Prince Edward Hotel in Charlottetown and the Red Oak Inn in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.Mr Mastalir is chairman of the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism Marketing Committee; a member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association Resort Committee; president elect of the SKAL Club of Bermuda and a member of the Minister of Tourism’s Air Services Committee.He is also past president of the Hotel Employers of Bermuda; past chairman of the Bermuda Hotel Association; past Bermuda Tourism board member and a Commadeur, Chef d’Hotel, of La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs.Mr. Mastalir is a graduate of the Hotel Administration Program at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.His new job will see him heading up the 550-room The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort at the base of Blackcomb Mountain.