For Marquisha Douglas, it’s a challenge selling Bermuda in the summer months.

The sales manager at the Fairmont Southampton has her eye on group bookings — anyone requiring eight rooms or more — and the peak costs can be a turn off.

So when she exceeded her target and received an all-expenses paid trip to Bali as thanks, she took the person who helped make it possible along for the ride.

She left for the Indonesian island with Christi Tucker, a business development manager with the BTA, last month.

Friends and family weren’t offended by the choice — Ms Tucker had directed the groups to Ms Douglas.

“One of my closest friends who was supposed to go on the trip with me. He died last year,” said the 37-year-old, who earned the trip and Fairmont’s coveted masters honour for her sales efforts.

“I was trying to figure out who to take. My parents weren’t going to go on a trip like that. She was my next best choice.”

The pair, along with the 58 other Fairmont winners and their guests, stayed at the Sofitel Nusa Dua. The group was made up of sales representatives, revenue managers, directors and sales managers from Fairmonts worldwide.

Dinners and cocktail receptions were held in their honour, they indulged in spa treatments and were “showered with gifts” during the ten-day adventure.

“We were also able to do our own personal things, so we went on an elephant safari,” said Ms Douglas, a sergeant in the Bermuda regiment. “We totally thought we were going to fall off. We had such a tight grip on the rope. And then we went into the water. If you’re Bermudian and you can’t see the bottom, you don’t want to go swimming. I was like, ‘Please don’t let me fall in this water’.”

She believes the beaches of Bali are no better than ours but that the Indonesians have got the edge on cultural tourism.

“Knowing their heritage so much [after a short visit], we should push more on our heritage,” she suggested.

“Because our heritage is unique, pushing on that would probably bring people to us more.”

The former post office administrative assistant started with Fairmont in 2011 as a co-ordinator. She was promoted two years ago after she was able to prove herself during the former sales manager’s maternity leave.

“Fairmont was my top choice of companies to work for because I knew that it had so many opportunities,” said Ms Douglas, who has a degree in tourism and business.

The social, military, educational, religious and fraternal groups she targets are typically wary when she offers the off-peak season as an affordable alternative.

“The hardest sell is the summertime for me, only because our rates are higher,” she said. “It’s not an easy market. It’s mostly non-profits, or they have a budget to stick to. The hardest part was trying to negotiate a rate that would fit us and fit them.

“They think that only July and August are our hot months; Bermuda is a great place to come year round. A lot of groups are finding that they prefer the off-peak season. [They] want to feel like the only ones in the hotel and we want to make sure they feel that way.

“They’ve still got sun in October, November, January, February, March — and other activities they can do.”

Her success has become a running joke with her associates. Every group referral usually comes with a reminder.

“[They all say] don’t forget I sent this to you. In case you win next year, don’t forget this,” Ms Douglas laughed. “I didn’t think that I would win a masters this fast.”

See the full list of awards here: www.fairmont.com/southampton-bermuda/hotel-awards/