Sacramento, CA – The National Council of State Tourism Directors (NCSTD), an industry council of the U.S. Travel Association, has announced that Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of the California Travel & Tourism Commission is the new State Tourism Director of the Year.

“Caroline’s leadership and innovation are well known within California, and she’s well-deserving of this honor. She’s also become a national advocate for travel and tourism through her active participation to find solutions to the challenges currently faced by our industry,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “Her tenure with the California Travel and Tourism Commission has provided the industry with models of effective tourism programming and coalition building. This award is a wonderful way to honor Caroline for her many achievements.”

The NCSTD developed the State Tourism Director of the Year Award to honor a tourism director that has clearly influenced the obvious and measurable improvement of a state or territory’s “travel and tourism profile” with his or her leadership. Each year, such success is measured in relationship to the amount of money and staff that the director has at his or her disposal. Candidates are nominated by other state/territory tourism directors, and a slate of three finalists is presented for selection by ballot and voted upon by their peers in the industry: other state tourism directors.

Beteta received the award at an awards banquet during the U.S. Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) in Reno/Lake Tahoe, NV. Some of the selection criteria for the award included Beteta’s demonstrated accomplishments in the following areas:

• Encouragement and development of events (i.e. Amgen Tour of California);
• Initiation of an effective overall advertising, publicity and literature campaign, which is integrated on the local, state and regional levels;
• Development and implementation of new state programs with an emphasis on cost-free, or minimal cost, promotional programs that involve the private sector and other local destination promotion agencies (i.e. consumer promotions and news releases on the consumer site www.visitcalifornia.com);
• Active participation in regional and national travel sales and promotional programs;
• Help to affect an increase in the state/territory’s tourism promotion budget; and
• Ability to determine and to help educate the public, industry and local/state government officials on the importance of the tourism industry (i.e. Fox and Hounds and CTTC CEO blogs, CTTC’s new B2B site which engages the industry in CTTC initiatives–www.tourism.visitcalifornia.com)

“I’m really honored to be recognized by my peers, whom I respect so much,” said Beteta, who also chairs the U.S. Travel Association and is the first chair to receive this award while in office. “Awards like these are critical for raising the profile and relevance of our industry on the national agenda. This is so important right now as Washington evaluates important industry initiatives such as the Travel Promotion Act–which would give us needed resources to educate consumers on the improvements in U.S. entry procedures–that can help us get a much-needed boost in international travel to the U.S.”

In addition to leading the charge in getting the Travel Promotion Act passed, Beteta as U.S. Travel Association Chair continues to create more awareness around other key travel industry issues that will help transform the American economy. Her platform this year includes championing programs and campaigns to ease the travel experience and remove unnecessary barriers that hinder travel, such as the MeetingsMeanBusiness.com campaign; educating legislators about why travel matters, not only in terms of economic impact but also for work productivity and personal wellness; and promoting the expansion of www.DiscoverAmerica.com, the first website promoting the United States travel product as a key tool for growing in-bound international tourism.

The CTTC is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs–in partnership with the state’s travel industry–that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to the CTTC, travel and tourism expenditures total $97.6 billion annually in California, support jobs for 924,000 Californians and generate $5.8 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information, visit www.VisitCalifornia.com.

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