A 28-year veteran of destination marketing, Shelly Green is President & CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, an internationally-accredited destination marketing organization chartered by state and local governments to attract and serve visitors to Durham.  

Shelly currently serves on the board of Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), the trade association for visitor bureaus worldwide, NC Travel & Tourism Coalition, Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina (DMANC), and the RDU chapter of SKAL.  She has also served on the NC Travel Industry Association (NCTIA) and NC Travel & Tourism boards and on advisory boards for the Center for Sustainable Tourism at East Carolina University and North Carolina Central University’s Hospitality Program. She is the Secretary-Treasurer and a founding Board Member of Scenic North Carolina.   

A leader in the field of destination marketing, Shelly is a past chairman of the independent, Washington D.C.-based Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) Board which evaluates standards and determines accreditation for destination marketing organizations worldwide.  She led DCVB’s effort to become the first accredited bureau in North Carolina, achieving a total of 25 exemplary citations for best practices, the highest number awarded to a single organization to date.  

Honored with the Barrentine Award in 2002, Green received recognition by her peers for significant service to DMANC as well as contributions toward state and national tourism initiatives.  She was also awarded the Bill Sharpe Public Service Award by NCTIA in 2011 in recognition for outstanding contributions to the development and promotion of North Carolina. In 2014 she was honored by Triangle Business Journal as a recipient of a Woman in Business Award.

A strong advocate for public service, Green is Vice President of the Durham Rotary Club.  She has served on the Superintendent’s Business Advisory Council for Durham Public Schools, was a regular volunteer reading tutor at Y.E. Smith Elementary School and served as chair and vice chair of the City’s Passenger Vehicle for Hire Commission.

Shelly has served as a speaker or panelist at national meetings of DMAI, the Travel Industry Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO), Southeast Tourism Society, Upper Midwest CVBs and America’s Promise Alliance.  She has been a frequent speaker and presenter at annual meetings of DMANC, the NC Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism, and NCTIA in addition to serving as a guest lecturer at Appalachian State University, NC Central University and East Carolina University.  

In addition to her work at the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, Green led the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau and was the founding Executive Director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau.  She began her career in destination marketing in the late 1980s at the Winston-Salem Convention & Visitors Bureau. Prior to her work in destination marketing Shelly was a public school music teacher in Florida and served as Vice President of Community Relations at International Fine Arts College.  She earned a Bachelor and Master’s degree in music from the University of Miami.