RALEIGH, N.C. — The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau Visit Raleigh board voted unanimously to name Executive Vice President Loren Gold as president and CEO effective Jan. 1, 2027, after sitting leader Dennis Edwards announced he will retire at the end of the year.
Gold has worked in hospitality nearly 40 years, joined Visit Raleigh in 2005 as director of sales and has been executive vice president since 2007, leading sales and marketing programs including brand management, research, advertising and public relations. Before Raleigh, he held national sales roles with Wyndham International and Marriott Hotels and Resorts and founded City Reps Inc., which generated meeting leads for multiple CVBs.
Board chair Melissa Chunn, general manager at Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel, said Gold has local partner relationships and industry respect needed as Wake County advances more than $2 billion in new tourism infrastructure and the Wake County 10-year Destination Strategic Plan 2028. Gold will oversee a staff of 35 with a $12.5 million budget and keep seats on the Atlantic Union Bank Convention Center Commission, the Granicus Destinations Advisory Board and the Wake County Hospitality Alliance.
Downtown Raleigh occupies the geographic and historic center of the city around Union Square and the State Capitol, and Fayetteville Street forms the primary civic and commercial spine south to the Raleigh Convention Center. That downtown tourism core is the day-to-day stage for the bureau Gold will lead as visitor infrastructure expands across Wake County.
Gold thanked Edwards for nearly 20 years of mentorship and said the succession keeps continuity for Visit Raleigh staff and hospitality partners heading into 2027.
