FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Martin Armes, 919-645-2654 (w); marmes@visitraleigh.com
Dave Heinl, 919-645-2656 (w); dheinl@visitraleigh.com
Russ Smith, 919-459-1500 (w); russ.smith@jqh.com

Heinl image available upon request.

Greater Raleigh CVB President & CEO Dave Heinl Announces Retirement; Organization's Only Head Executive to Depart after 20 Years on March 30, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. (August 2, 2006) - Dave Heinl, President and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB) since its inception in February 1987, announced his retirement effective March 30, 2007.

Following this announcement to the staff this morning, what follows is a letter that was distributed by Heinl to the GRCVB Board and The Conference Table tourism advocacy group:

"After 20 years of service as the President and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau and 15 additional years with three other bureaus around the country, I will be retiring on March 30, 2007. 

"I love this job and Raleigh and Wake County, but my wife, Janice, and I want to spend more time with our son and his wife and two grandchildren in Sydney, Australia and our daughter and her husband and one grandchild in Yakima, Washington.  We have been so far away from them for so many years, and while we have good health, we want to be with them and see our grandchildren grow.

"Most of my family is in the Pacific Northwest and with my 90 year-old mother living in Portland, Oregon with my sister, it's time to share some time with them.  We have bought a home in Yakima, Washington and plan to move there upon retirement.

"I will leave the bureau in good hands with an extremely competent staff, a solid three-year strategic plan, hotel occupancy at an all time high, a competitive new convention center under construction, new hotels planned or under construction, an exciting downtown Raleigh renaissance, airport expansion and an abundance of restaurants, nightlife and attractions that should bode well for the visitor industry for years to come.

"It has been not only a pleasure, but an honor to lead the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau from its inception as the first CEO beginning on February 9, 1987.  We've come a long way, and I'm proud of what has been accomplished. 

"Over the next 8 months, there are some things I'd like to accomplish before I leave, but I will do all I can to assist the selection committee in the process of hiring a new President and CEO.  The support and leadership I have received from present and past members of the GRCVB Board and The Conference Table members have been much appreciated.

"Although I will miss Raleigh, it is a happy time for my wife and me as we move into the next phase of our lives.  Thanks to all of you, the past 20 years have been wonderful."

According to GRCVB Board Chairman Russ Smith, "Dave Heinl is certainly leaving with Raleigh and Wake County on a tourism high note. Hotel occupancy and overall visitor spending are at record levels. New restaurants and entertainment districts are being developed throughout the area. There is a 3-year Strategic Destination Plan that provides focus for Greater Raleigh Tourism and a well defined direction for the CVB and board. Raleigh is on the threshold of opening a new convention center and headquarters hotel in 2008 and there is $1.7 billion of downtown development serving as a catalyst for future visitor growth."

The search committee to hire the GRCVB's next President and CEO will be comprised of the Board's five-member executive committee. "We will have time for a thorough process to ensure selecting the best possible candidate to further transform Raleigh and Wake County into one of the nation's premier visitor and meetings destinations," said Smith, who will lead the search.

Dave Heinl Bio

David Heinl, CDME, has 35 years of experience in top management in the convention and visitor industry and four years experience in marketing positions in the high-tech industry in the private sector.

Heinl has been the Chief Executive Officer of both the Hartford, CT and Portland, OR Convention and Visitor Bureaus and prior to that was Director of Sales at the Seattle/King County Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has also held marketing positions with IBM and McCaw Communications in the private sector.

Heinl is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle with a degree in Business Administration with a major focus in Marketing.

He is internationally recognized in the convention and visitor industry and was President of the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB, now renamed Destination Marketing Association International) in 1982-83. Heinl was in the first-ever graduating class in 1996 to earn his Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) designation. He was a member of the IACVB Consulting Team for eight years and past representative of IACVB on the Certified Meeting Professionals (CMP) board of directors.

Heinl was Chairman of the Tourism Task Force of the Governor's Economic Recovery Council of Oregon, member of the Chairman's Advisory Committee of the American Society of Association Executives and President and Founder of the Oregon Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus.

He was the 1990/91 President of the North Carolina Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus and 1990/91 member of the Association Executives of North Carolina board of directors.

He was a founding member of the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Board and a member of the executive committee of the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Coalition. He was the 1997 President of the Travel Council of North Carolina (now renamed North Carolina Travel Industry Association).

Heinl has extensive experience in starting new convention and visitors bureaus having successfully accomplished this in Hartford, CT, Portland, OR, and now in Raleigh, NC. He and his wife, Janice, have two grown children...a daughter, Kathleen, and a son, Ben...a grandson, Dean, and a granddaughter, Emma…and another granddaughter on the way.

Heinl has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau since February 9, 1987. The Bureau separated from the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce upon his arrival to become an independent organization. He directs a staff of 21 with a budget of $3.5 million.

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, as the official destination marketing organization of Raleigh and Wake County, accelerates sustainable economic growth and development by increasing visitor and convention business.