Tourism veteran Frank Stocek who heads up the Elbow Beach Resort is leaving the Island after more than ten years.Mr Stocek, who is well known for promoting Bermuda’s tourism industry, has been transferred to another Mandarin Oriental property in Malaysia.He has been general manager at Elbow Beach since July of 2001 and is currently chairman of the Bermuda Hotel Association.Mr Stocek’s departure was announced at a manager’s meeting on Monday morning before all staff were told of his transfer via e-mail.The Canadian hotel boss will leave in mid to late December to become general manager of the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur.The five-star hotel has 643 guest rooms as well as 51 fully-serviced apartment suites and is adjacent to the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers.Mr Stocek said: “Although I am excited to be moving on to take on the next step of my career at the helm of one of Mandarin Oriental’s flagship hotels in Asia, I am sad to leave Bermuda and the venerable Elbow Beach Resort.“It has been home for my family and I over the past ten years. Our fantastic team of colleagues has been through many challenges, changes and improvements, and I know they will continue tirelessly towards the resort’s vision of success for the future.“Elbow has always shown its best side when times are tough and I am absolutely certain that it will succeed and keep on delighting guests for another century to come.”Mr Stocek’s departure comes just months after a couple of other high-profile hotel bosses left our shores. Norman Mastalir, managing director of Bermuda’s Fairmont properties and general manager of the Fairmont Southampton, left in July and Jon Crellin, the general manager of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel, left in June.Mr Stocek’s departure also comes as Bermuda’s tourism industry continues to struggle with closing hotels and falling visitor numbers.Elbow Beach was substantially downsized in October 2009 when its 101-year-old main building closed with the loss of about 160 jobs.The current economic climate was said to play a part in the decision to hold off on redevelopment plans and instead focus on a more intimate and exclusive 98 suites and cottages resort.Sophie Dier, Elbow Beach’s director of communications, said Mr Stocek’s departure had “nothing at all” to do with the hotel’s downsizing or the economic downturn.She said: “This is a new personal opportunity for him. It’s time for him to make a change for his own personal development.“We will miss him, but this proves how highly the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group thinks of him.“Change is also exciting and someone new will come in with fresh ideas.”Elbow Beach is owned by Prince Khalid bin Sultan, a prominent member of the Saudi Arabian royal family and multimillionaire.Ms Dier said the name of the new general manager, who is expected to come to Bermuda from another Mandarin Oriental property, would be announced soon.She added that the hotel group “liked to keep people moving” because of the changing nature of the tourism industry.