The new chairman of the Tourism Board yesterday called on hoteliers to examine their product and compare it to the message they have been ?hammering? out this past week.

Andre Curtis said Bermuda Hotel Association president, Mike Winfield was reported to have declared ?that we are an affluent product and that we offer an affluent vacation?.

?I wonder if he feels that all of his member properties live up to that promise,? he said. In voicing his support of the geo-centric marketing approach set out by the Tourism Minister Ewart Brown, Mr. Curtis reiterated the Minister?s position that we must ?fish where the fish are?.

He said the common threat that ran through hotel properties which did well over the summer ? Elbow Beach, the Reefs, and Cambridge Beaches ? is the quality of their product.

?If you promise an affluent vacation you must deliver it and that is part of a hotelier?s responsibility,? he said.

In response yesterday, Mr Winfield said: ?It is my sincere hope that the Tourism Board and indeed the ministry will work with the Hotel Association as partners and indeed much of what I have been saying recently has been towards that objective.?

Mr. Winfield added he had fully acknowledged there were aspects of the Bermuda product needing examination ? that product included the hotels and all aspects of the Island?s infrastructure that served tourism.

?I would look forward to any constructive suggestions from anyone including the chairman of the tourist board towards that objective.?

He added: ?We do not believe this is a situation of ?doom and gloom? but rather the right people getting together to find solutions for a challenge that has affected Bermuda for two decades plus and which has crossed the political administrations.?

Mr. Winfield said it was not a question in any way placing blame with anyone, but rather an attempt to bring all concerned together.

?I think that any destination needs to have a range of hotel products from three star to five star, I think Bermuda is predominantly at the higher end and certainly the costs of operating a hotel in Bermuda is at the high end thereby necessitating high rates.?

?Again that is true with any aspect of the tourism infrastructure and by definition, all of us need to be offering value for money,? he said. Mr. Winfield added that one of the greatest challenges was finding the brand that was Bermuda and selling that brand to people who could afford it.