PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC) today announced that David C. DePetrillo, the state’s longtime director of tourism, will retire Sept. 30. He will be replaced by industry veteran Mark G. Brodeur, who currently serves as the EDC’s director of tourism operations.

“David is a nationally recognized leader in the tourism industry, and has played an integral role in growing our state’s tourism industry and significantly impacting our state’s economy over the past three decades,” Saul Kaplan, EDC executive director, said in a statement this morning.

DePetrillo – in partnership with the University of Rhode Island – was responsible for conducting the first comprehensive study on the economic impact of tourism within our state, Kaplan said.

He helped launch marketing campaigns, highlighted in the annual Rhode Island Travel Guide, that have played up such attractions as Ocean State history, the state’s natural wonders and its local cuisine. (READ MORE) He also pioneered the use of new technologies to grow the industry, such as helping to create what Kaplan described as one of the first state tourism Web sites in the nation: the Tourism Division’s www.VisitRhodeIsland.com.

“For more than three decades, David has effectively promoted our state locally, regionally, nationally and internationally,” said Evan Smith, president and CEO of the Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “For David, promoting Rhode Island was not a job, but rather a lifelong passion that he took very seriously.”

DePetrillo has received numerous honors for his work. He has been chosen by his peers for the State Tourism Director of the Year Award; has received the Governor’s Tourism Award; and has been honored by Yankee Magazine as its New England Tourism Person of the Year.

He also is a founding member of the Rhode Island Geotourism Collaborative, a board member and former chairman of the National Council of State Tourism Directors, and has served on the board of the Travel Industry Association.

His successor, Brodeur – who will take over for DePetrillo at the end of this month – has more than 25 years experience in the tourism industry.

In his current position, as director of operations, Brodeur has been responsible for overseeing the Tourism Division’s budget, advertising and public relations activities; its market research and analysis; its Web-site design and development; and Rhode Island’s involvement at trade shows.

He previously served as manager of the R.I. Welcome Center and director of tour services for the Paragon Tours and Travel Inc., a Texas-based company with offices in Swansea and Fall River.

Brodeur also is a trustee of the Eastern States Exposition – “the Big E” in Springfield, Mass. – which draws million of visitors to New England every year.

In 2007, Rhode Island’s tourism industry recorded $4.24 billion in expenditures related to tourism, while visits to the Ocean State increased 3 percent compared with the year before, according to the EDC. (READ MORE)

Tourism accounts for 5 percent of the total gross state product, and generates 12 percent of all local and state tax revenue in Rhode Island, EDC data show. About 55,000 people work in the state’s tourism industry, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training (DLT).

The R.I. Economic Development Corporation is a quasi-public agency established to promote business development, preservation and expansion in the state and undertake port projects in Rhode Island. Additional information about the EDC and its Tourism Division is available at www.riedc.com.

Additional information about the R.I. Tourism Division – or about local events and destinations – is available at www.VisitRhodeIsland.com.