Caroline Beteta

Caroline Beteta

President and CEO
Visit California

Caroline Beteta serves as the Executive Director of the industry-led California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC), a non-profit organization created to market California as a premier travel destination and to increase the State's share of tourism-related revenues. She also serves as the Deputy Secretary for Tourism under the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

Caroline is responsible for implementing the CTTC's marketing plan and serving as the lead spokesperson for California's $82.5 billion tourism industry. Under her leadership, California Tourism's share of the domestic market increased from 9.7% to 11.5% from 1998-2002, reversing a decade-long decline. In continuing this positive momentum, Caroline has coordinated with the Schwarzenegger Administration to successfully restore and increase public funding of tourism promotions in order to maintain California's competitiveness as the number one travel destination in the United States.

As a native Californian, Caroline has proudly enjoyed a varied career in promoting many aspects of sound public policy for the Golden State. As Vice President of Del Smith and Company, one of Washington, DC's oldest and most established public affairs firms that represents primarily California-based clients, her client roster included: the County of Los Angeles, the City of Long Beach, the Port of Long Beach, the City of Palos Verdes, the City of Laguna Beach, the Santa Cruz Harbor, the California Independent Petroleum Association, the National Independent Private Schools Association, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and the City of Anaheim. Working with these clients, Caroline acquired an intimate knowledge of the impact federal and state policy could have on economic development and tourism in California.

Caroline has been the recipient of numerous national and state awards for her creative work and leadership in the travel industry. She is also active on the federal level promoting the key role tourism plays in the national economy, serving on the TIA Board of Directors and as Chair of TIA's Government Affairs Committee, as well as a board member with the Western States Tourism Policy Council.

Caroline holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of California at Los Angeles. She obtained a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, which included fellowships with a member of the California Congressional Delegation and the Times Mirror Company in Washington, DC. She also completed the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Marketing Management Program.