A few months ago, I sat in a small conference room and watched the ways Boston presents itself to the world. It wasn’t pretty, but the experience was certainly edifying.

Along with the other members of the Globe Spotlight Team then preparing the series on race that appeared last December, I watched the promotional videos from a number of cities, including Boston. This city’s stood out — for its utter lack of diversity.

As the Boston video cycled through the city’s familiar landmarks and signature experiences, the lone black person we spotted was a server in a restaurant. A person watching this in another part of the country might never have guessed that more than half the people who live in this city aren’t white, or that Boston has tourist attractions that aren’t associated with the Revolution or the Public Garden.

Cities like San Francisco and New York highlighted their diversity as a reason to come visit. We appeared to view our diversity as something better ignored. I mention this because change is coming to the world of Boston tourism. And though it sounds like a small bureaucratic change, it ought to be far more significant than that.

The Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, the outfit that markets the area’s tourism, is headed for a change in leadership.

Officially, the bureau is in the process of hiring a chief operating officer: the agency’s second-in-command. Unofficially, there is widespread belief that the agency’s head since 1991, Pat Moscaritolo, may be nearing retirement as well. So, transition is on the horizon.

Like its promotional materials, the hierarchy of the tourism board is not exactly a bastion of  diversity. This would be a great time for that to change, right?

Well, don’t count on it.

Larry Cancro is chairman of the board of the bureau. (In his day job, he’s a senior vice president of the Boston Red Sox.) I called him last week and asked about the search for a new executive.

Cancro said he couldn’t tell me who the contenders are for the COO job. But he confirmed that there are no people of color in the mix.

“No, and it’s not for lack of trying,’’ Cancro said. “When we took on this search, I thought we’d find a lot of good candidates, and we haven’t. There aren’t many people of color with a lot of experience. It’s an industry that’s diverse in terms of gender, but not in other ways.’’

It’s a frustrating argument. People of color are shut out of major jobs for lack of experience — and, as a result, can’t get that executive experience. Cancro conceded that the way the area markets itself could be more, well, welcoming.

“I think we want people to know that this is a welcoming place and that they’re going to have a great time here,’’ Cancro said. “I think there are a lot of ways to do that, and I’m sure that we could do more.’’

The truth is, we do almost nothing, and it shows. As part of the series on race, the Globe sponsored a survey in which African-Americans around the country were surveyed about how welcoming they considered a number of major cities. The survey replicated one that had been conducted twice before. Each time it’s been done, Boston has ranked dead last on the list.

I’m not suggesting that those results can be laid at the feet of one or two people, or a single agency. Boston’s enduring reputation for racism is complicated. But, certainly, it doesn’t help that the job of presenting Boston’s image to the world is a task that people of color are largely shut out of. That diversity has been such a minor consideration is a direct reflection of who’s in the room.  

We don’t talk enough, or think enough, about who is in the rooms where Boston’s image — and reality — are defined.

Boston can’t change until the makeup of those rooms does.

Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at adrian.walker@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adrian_walker.