Richard Barentine Has Been Recognized As One Of The Forty Most Important Leaders In North Carolina's Tourism Industry In The 20th Century.

Furniture World Magazine

Recently retired International Home Furnishings Market Chief Executive Officer Richard Barentine has been recognized as one of the forty most important leaders in North Carolina's tourism industry in the 20th century. He is one of twenty recipients in the Builders Award category of the Tourism Leaders of the 20th Century Award. Barentine led the International Home Furnishings Market as its Chief Executive Officer from 1977-1999 during its most dynamic period of growth and tourism impact since Market's beginning in 1909. A leader in the formative years of the state's Convention and Visitors Bureau industry, he served as the Director of the Winston-Salem Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1969-1976. He was the founder of the North Carolina Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus in 1976 and has been an active leader in the Travel Council of North Carolina since 1969. He has served since 1995 as the only Chair of the City of Lexington Tourism Authority and its marketing arm, the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Barentine was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1944 and has lived in North Carolina since 1967. He has spent his entire adult career in North Carolina's travel and tourism industry. The 40 award recipients were announced during the North Carolina Governor's Conference on Tourism March 27 in Wilmington. The Industry Advisory Board of the Hospitality Management Program in Appalachian State University's John A. Walker College of Business established the award. They sought nominations from across the state. Criteria for selection included the leader's impact on the travel industry, length of service, leadership innovation, civic-minded attitude, and their enhancement of the reputation of North Carolina throughout the United States and the world. They divided the award into two categories. The Pioneer Award category recipients are considered originators, visionaries, and product creators, who often, risked personal assets to build businesses or to help build the North Carolina tourism industry. The Builders Award category recipients helped develop and promote tourism products, structures or tourism organizations already in existence and took those organizations to new levels of accomplishment.