A marketing blitz needs to spell out exactly where Bermuda is, as many holidaymakers remain confused about the Island’s location, according to Fairmont boss George Terpilowski.The new managing director of Fairmont Bermuda would like to see “a creative and consistent” marketing plan to ensure the Island is seen as a must-visit destination.Mr Terpilowski, who is also general manager of the Fairmont Southampton Resort, says everyone needed to be told that Bermuda was only a short direct flight from the east coast of America.He believes the “major stumbling block” when trying to sell the Island is that many people didn’t know where it was.Mr Terpilowski is now calling for what he calls “stop and start marketing” to be replaced with a wide reaching and carefully planned campaign. He believes it’s the only way for Bermuda to “maintain its competitiveness”.Mr Terpilowski, who has more than 30 years in the hospitality business, said: “Bermuda has to keep itself prominently in the eyes of the consumer.“The challenge is to create a marketing identity that is consistently in front of people in our markets.“Consumers are fickle because if they don’t keep seeing something they will forget about it.“You can’t show them something one year then back off for a couple of years and hope they have got the message.”Mr Terpilowski, 53, said the Bermuda Department of Tourism was “doing all the right things” by bringing in creative marketing minds to target the affluent travellers of the east coast of America.But he said it was “frustrating” that the experts were not using all types of media to fly the flag for the Island’s “uniqueness”.He said: “We shouldn’t aspire to be whatever others are.“It’s not a hip, young, trendy Island and shouldn’t try to be. It’s a sleek, sophisticated, unique destination.”Mr Terpilowski also said the top selling point of Bermuda’s marketing campaign should be its proximity to the US.He said: “What strikes me over and over again is ‘where is Bermuda’ because it’s remarkable just how many people are confused by its geography.“That’s a huge initial stumbling block, we should be telling people how close it is.“No amount of marketing dollars can be wasted on telling people how easy it is to get here. We have to make more people aware of that.”Mr Terpilowski said once visitors reached our shores they realised “what a magical place it was” and would then help to spread the word to their friends and family.He said: “It’s not rocket science, we have to get people here first. Once people get here, Bermuda sells itself. The Island has so much going for itself.“People realise they have discovered somewhere so special that hasn’t been trampled or ruined by people.”Mr Terpilowski also believes in the benefits of setting up a Tourism Authority to up the ante as Bermuda competes with other destinations.He said it was time for some people “to step out of the way” so that independent experts could be selected “do their job properly”.Mr Terpilowski also highlighted gambling and a convention centre as “some of the ways” to attract people to Bermuda in the cooler months.He said: “I’m not a gambling advocate per se … it’s something we have to look at as gaming is not reliant on just the high season. I think we should be open-minded.”Mr Terpilowski believes the future of Bermuda’s tourism looks “very bright” adding: “We just need to look at what we’ve got rather than what we don’t have.”Mr Terpilowski said his first few months in his new position had gone “extremely well” and he’d spent a lot of time getting to know staff and talking to guests.He has also got involved in the Bermuda Hotel Association and Bermuda Alliance of Tourism “to find out about the challenges tourism is facing”.He said: “Tourism in Bermuda plays a very important part of the economy in terms of employing people and attracting as many visitors as possible to spend their money.“Like many, many places around the world, Bermuda is facing challenges.“The economy is up and down and it’s a very competitive global environment.”Mr Terpilowski was no stranger to Bermuda when he started his new position on July 18, as he had been a regular visitor for about seven years.Mr Terpilowski says he will always fondly remember his first vacation to Bermuda, which “completely accidentally” coincided with the Bermuda Day celebrations.He remembers arriving at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on the Friday to find about 1,500 people at Happy Hour and thinking: “People in Bermuda really know how to enjoy themselves.” Then he said he and his wife stumbled upon the Bermuda Day Parade, which he described as “an absolutely fabulous event”.It was for these happy vacation memories that Mr Terpilowski said he was happy to take up the challenge of moving to Bermuda.Mr Terpilowski said: “I didn’t walk into this with my eyes closed, I asked lots of questions in advance and everyone was very enthusiastic.“So it’s not been too different to what I expected, but I do like to be taken out of my comfort level with a new job.“I like a professional challenge that keeps me learning.”Mr Terpilowski grew up in London, but moved to Washington DC when he was 21. He decided on Washington for its “international flavour” while hitchhiking across the States.He started his hotel career in America’s capital city on a hotel’s front desk then moved his way up the ranks after being accepted onto a management training programme.Mr Terpilowski says he’s “covered every area” having worked at hotels across the US, including Nashville, San Francisco and Richmond in Virginia.His previous position was back in Washington DC as manager of The Monarch Hotel, which became the Fairmont Washington in 1999.Mr Terpilowski describes the hotel trade as “an infectious business” and says he enjoys being surrounded by people employed for their “warmth and hospitality”.He said he had an “open-door” management style and said he always worked by looking to the future.Mr Terpilowski said: “I have always found working in hotels a lot of fun.“But I don’t profess to be the person in the building who knows most about what goes on in the building.”Mr Terpilowski lives in Southampton Parish with his wife Judy and six-year-old son Liam. His 18-year-old son Gavin is in university in Virginia and his 15-year-old daughter Madeline is at high school in Washington.