DATE: Monday, October 13, 1997              TAG: 9710130062

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO . . . ROBERT ROSENBERG, THE CREATOR OF NORFOLK'S FIRST TOURISM DEPARTMENT?

A native of Norfolk, Robert Rosenberg helped the city form its first tourism and marketing department in the mid-1970s. In the four years that Rosenberg presided over the department, visitor expenditures grew from less than $50 million a year to more than $100 million annually.

Robert Rosenberg has continued to look for new ways to attract tourists, working for a variety of prestigious East Coast cities over the past 20 years to help them woo more big-spending visitors to their towns.

He has been involved with several notable tourism campaigns, including the ``I Love New York'' campaign for the state of New York. Rosenberg was working as assistant deputy commissioner of the state's tourism and commerce department when he helped administer and implement the program.

Today, he serves as president of the Newport County Covention and Visitors Bureau in Newport, R.I., a well-known summer colony for the wealthy that also bills itself as the nation's sailing capital.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists and about 60 cruise ships flock there each year to visit the city's beaches and tour its vast, historic mansions, including those once owned by the Vanderbilts, Astors and the family of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Rosenberg also has managed convention and visitors bureaus for the cities of Miami and Palm Beach, Fla., two other cities also known for their wealthy part-time residents and sprawling beachfront mansions.

``It's really a great job,'' Rosenberg said. ``Marketing a destination is very similar to marketing a product.''

Rosenberg, who just turned 50, started his successful career when he was in high school. He formed his own advertising business - R/R Advertising - while he was a student in the distributive education program at Granby High School. ``It more than paid my way through (college),'' he said.

While working as marketing director for the city of Norfolk, he helped create the Norfolk Tour to guide tourists to the city's top attractions - the Naval Base, the Chrysler Museum, MacArthur Memorial, the Botanical Garden, the zoo and some of its historic homes. And he was involved in the openings of the Scope special events center and the Omni hotel on the downtown waterfront.

Rosenberg comes back to Norfolk often to visit his mother and two grown sons and says he has been impressed with the city's development over the years.

``The city has been very aggressive (in its development and marketing) and it has really paid off,'' he said. ``The change has been very dynamic from the time I was there in the early 1970s until now.'' MEMO: Whatever Happened To . . . appears every Monday, and we welcome

your suggestions for people and subjects to update. Dial INFOLINE at

640-5555 and press 7878 to leave a message for Jane Harper. ILLUSTRATION: Robert Rosenberg has built a career around tourism,

helping various vacation hot spots along the East Coast attract

visitors.

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