ABC Columbia Exclusive: John Durst on Taking Over at the SCRLA

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “I was very, very humbled. I remember the moment clearly,” says John Durst, President/ CEO of the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. A job so new, some of his plaques haven’t even been hung on the walls of his office. Durst takes over amid a tough year for the organization that previously went by the name the South Carolina Hospitality Association, founded more than 20 years ago by former president Tom Sponseller. “Tom was a giant in the tourism industry,” says Durst. Sponseller committed suicide 8 months ago after federal officials uncovered a nearly $400,000 embezzlement scheme by then Accounting Director, Rachel Duncan. Sponseller, say authorities, had nothing to do with it. Durst says Sponseller’s memory is still here. “Tom is someone I very much respect and I miss and I hope that I will do justice to his legacy,” says Durst. A legacy he says comes with a lot of accomplishments for this organization, one that’s spent much of 2011 rebuilding. “The past is something you learn from, it’s said the past is a prologue,” says Durst. Durst arrives here with a successful track record. He served as the Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism during the Hodges administration, a time when not many people in the state were traveling. “That was during 9/11, immediately after 9/11 no one was traveling anywhere, no one was even going out to eat, locally,” says Durst. A challenge he says he met then and lessons he brings here to this office. Yet he says, it’s the team as a whole that plans to make a difference. “Whatever is accomplished isn’t because of me, it’s because of the team that’s here,” says Durst.