A. Barry Hirschfeld

Hall Of Fame Inductee — 2002

It would be hard to think of anyone who has contributed more to Denver’s travel industry than A. Barry Hirschfeld. Barry first joined the Board of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau in 1985, taking the seat of his deceased father Ed Hirschfeld, who is also a member of the Tourism Hall of Fame.

Barry is one of the few people to have served two terms as chairman of the Bureau (1989-1990) and one of the first to be honored as a Lifetime Board member.

Although Barry has been involved in literally dozens of projects for the Bureau, he provided the leadership for five crucial programs. While Barry was chairman, he twice led the movement to increase the Bureau’s portion of the lodger’s tax, resulting in a quarter percent increase in 1991 and another quarter percent increase the next year. He played a crucial role in the movement to build the Colorado Convention Center, but perhaps more important, he secured the marketing dollar grants that allowed the new center to be properly promoted in its early years. Barry also led the contingent that secured the first marketing dollar grants from the city for the highly successful Destination Denver program. This public/private marketing program has now grown to a $3 million annual budget.

Finally, he led the Bureau’s relocation committee that not only helped save The Denver Dry Goods Building, but also secured very favorable office accommodations for the Bureau for the past decade.

More than anyone else, Barry has been responsible for securing strong funding for Denver tourism promotion. Without this funding, Denver would not be enjoying the vital, healthy economy that it does today.

Barry’s father, Ed Hirschfeld, was inducted into the Denver & Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame in 2000.

Each Denver & Colorado Tourism Hall of Fame inductee reflects the profile of the inductee at the time of the induction.