Tourism director decision expected

LAFAYETTE — A new head of tourism for Lafayette is scheduled to be chosen Friday to replace Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission Executive Director Gerald Breaux, who is retiring after 30 years on the job.

The LCVC board is scheduled to meet Friday morning and again in the early afternoon to review the two finalists for the job and then vote before the end of the day on the top choice for the position.

The commission has selected two top candidates out of more than 20 who applied for the job — Ben Berthelot, who is director of community development for Lafayette city-parish government, and Renée Areng, who is executive vice-president of sales and marketing with the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Both candidates are graduates of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Areng with a major in political science and Berthelot with a major in public relations.

Before joining the Baton Rouge Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2002, Areng worked for 12 years as convention marketing manager for the LCVC.

Berthelot had worked as a campaign manager and later assistant to Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel before being tapped in 2010 to head community development.

Breaux said a search committee first trimmed down the list of applicants to five and then narrowed the field further to Berthelot and Areng based on telephone interviews.

Breaux said the hope is that the new director can come on board for a few weeks before he leaves in late June so he has time to go over the details of the job with his successor.

Breaux announced his retirement late last year.

He said Thursday he has no specific plans, other than to “hit the road” and do some travelling with his wife.