HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY VETERAN TO LEAD IRVING CVB SALES EFFORTS

IRVING, Texas (February 2008) - The Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) recently named Cyndi Golden as assistant executive director of sales. Golden will oversee the bureau's destination sales and customer services departments.

No stranger to the city, Golden is a 17-year hospitality industry veteran who spent nearly a decade overseeing Irving hotels. She served as district director of sales for Holiday Inn, managing Irving's former Holiday Inn Select South (now Ramada DFW South), and as director of sales and marketing for the former DoubleTree Guest Suites (now Embassy Suites DFW South). Golden held the same position at Embassy Suites Outdoor World in Grapevine, and most recently served as director of leisure group sales at the Gaylord Texan.

Cyndi was a natural candidate for the role of assistant executive director of sales, bringing not only her Irving experience to the forefront, but capitalizing on her past successes at key properties in the DFW market," said Maura Gast, Irving CVB executive director.

Golden earned a Certified Hotel Marketing Executive (CHME) designation from the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International, serves on the board of directors for the Dallas/Fort Worth Area Tourism Council, and is secretary of the Fort Worth chapter of Skål, a professional organization of tourism leaders from around the world.