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Announcing the 2023 CalTravel Award Winners
Celebrate Tourism Heroes at the CalTravel Summit
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Following another year of tremendous growth, change, and innovation in our industry, we are proud to announce the winners of the 2023 CalTravel Awards, which recognize extraordinary individuals and organizations whose leadership efforts have significantly impacted the travel and tourism industry in California.
The awards will be presented at the 40th annual CalTravel Summit at the Monterey Conference Center September 19-21, 2023. Please join us at the Summit to celebrate their accomplishments! If you haven’t already registered, be sure to reserve your seat today. Registration rates increase on August 16.
Below are the 2023 CalTravel Award recipients. We know their stories will inspire you as much as they’ve inspired us!
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Evening Awards
Celebrated at the CalTravel Summit Awards Dinner
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F. NORMAN CLARK TOURISM CHAMPION OF THE YEAR
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Joe D'Alessandro
President & CEO, San Francisco Travel
The F. Norman Clark Tourism Champion of the Year award recognizes excellence in California tourism leadership by a person, organization, or entity member for activities in a particular year or to acknowledge a body of work in tourism. The award recognizes activities which have contributed to building the image of California and for contributing to increasing visitor arrivals to the state.
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Joe D’Alessandro’s leadership and commitment to California’s tourism industry is recognized not only locally, but also statewide, nationally, and internationally. Over the years, he has lent his knowledge and expertise to several boards, including U.S. Travel Association, California Travel Association (CalTravel), San Francisco’s Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, and Visit California, where he most recently served as Vice Chair.
Since taking the job as President and CEO in 2006, Joe has helped San Francisco Travel forge partnerships with and between hotels, venues, and neighboring destinations to maximize both the visitor experience and organizational goals. Among his many achievements was the development of the San Francisco Tourism Improvement District, which created a unique and sustainable funding structure that has become a national model for tourism promotion.
After dedicating his life’s work to tourism, Joe plans to retire at the end of 2023.
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Gary Sherwin
President & CEO, Newport Beach & Company
The Brad Burlingame Award recognizes an individual or an organization member who has elevated travel and tourism advocacy in California by setting an example of commitment, generosity, and effectiveness.
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Gary Sherwin has been a well-respected leader in California’s tourism industry for decades, holding key positions with multiple DMOs across Southern California. When the CalTravel Political Action Committee (PAC) formed over 25 years ago, Gary was one of the PAC’s founding trustees and biggest proponents—predicting the need for our industry to increase its influence, visibility, and credibility among elected officials.
Today, Gary continues to advocate for the PAC, making certain it remains a top priority for CalTravel and its membership. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the PAC Trustees, helping to drive revenue growth and direct contribution strategy to ensure CalTravel maximizes its impact in Sacramento. In early 2023, Gary generously underwrote a large part of CalTravel’s highest-grossing board meeting PAC fundraiser honoring retired U.S. Travel CEO Roger Dow.
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DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION CHAMPION AWARD
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Visit Greater Palm Springs
The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion Award recognizes an individual or organization member who, by advocating, educating, developing programs, and/or raising awareness of DEI issues, has strengthened and affected meaningful change to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the travel and tourism industry.
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Visit Greater Palm Springs has taken substantial actions to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within the region. They kick-started their efforts by working with groups such as Tourism Diversity Matters and Travel Unity to broaden their team’s knowledge and understanding of DEI.
Some of the organization’s most noteworthy DEI efforts include providing micro grants for Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs in hospitality and tourism; achieving the Certified Autism Center designation with a goal of becoming a Certified Autism Destination; supporting the Agua Caliente Tribe in its destination marketing efforts; and educating visitors on the five tribes in the region. They also played a role in helping Visit California launch its new Visit Native California platform which celebrates indigenous culture throughout the state.
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Travelzoo
The Great Workplace Award recognizes an individual or organization member who creates a great environment for employees to thrive and grow through mentoring, innovative recruitment or training programs, high quality of life benefits or other ways to make their workplace a great place to work.
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Travelzoo strives for a diverse and inclusive workplace and brand that fosters a curious, understanding, and global community. By embracing this ethos, they’ve created a work environment where employees are able to grow and prosper.
A sense of community and inclusion is evident in Travelzoo's global networking program, women’s speaker series, mentorship program, and various employee-led affinity groups. With their regularly occurring employee events—team lunches, volunteer days, wellness activities—the Travelzoo team feels more like family than work colleagues. And employees’ efforts don’t go unnoticed, as Travelzoo provides recognition in the form of annual awards and rewards. Employees also enjoy extra vacation days, $2,000 towards a Travelzoo vacation package of their choice, art classes, educational workshops, Summer Fridays, and more.
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Brittney Hendricks
Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Visit Oxnard
The Rising Star Award recognizes an individual member, 39 years old or under, who has contributed through their individual efforts, to the promotion of travel, tourism, and hospitality in California. This exceptional individual has demonstrated the skills, talents, attitudes, and initiative that are the hallmarks of a rising star.
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Brittney Hendricks has been with the Visit Oxnard team for five years. In this time, she has been instrumental in rebranding Oxnard into a premier travel destination and improving the perception of Oxnard to residents and visitors.
She has spearheaded numerous impactful projects including the launch of a new website, the annual Visit Oxnard Visitors Guide, promotional destination reels, creation of an annual marketing plan, and the organization’s first crisis communication plan. With the $1.5 million ARPA grant that Visit Oxnard was awarded, Brittney has created a “Film Oxnard” website, a filming application, and promotional materials to support filming in the city, as well as a Wayfinding program for the entire city, among other projects.
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SUSTAINABILITY ADVOCATE AWARD
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Sonoma County Tourism
The Sustainability Advocate Award recognizes an individual or organization member that has successfully reduced waste, improved recycling, or managed travel impacts in a way that inspires others to improve their own practices.
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Sonoma County Tourism embraces the three pillars of sustainability: People, Planet, Profit. The organization has taken a strategic approach to sustainability, leaning all in by becoming a Destination Stewardship Organization (DSO) in 2019.
In an effort to make a positive impact on Sonoma County, the organization has made several changes to how they do business, including hiring a Manager of Sustainability & Climate Initiatives. To ensure they reach consumers who can help achieve the organization’s mission, they’ve moved paid media to channels with audiences that care about protecting natural and cultural resources. As an organization, they have eliminated single-use plastics, ensured their office buildings are Leed certified, and are offsetting the carbon emissions of their team’s travel. The organization has also developed important partnerships with Leave No Trace and Kind Traveler, among other initiatives.
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Daytime Awards
Celebrated On-Stage at the CalTravel Summit
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DISTINGUISHED TRAVEL CHAMPION AWARD
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Senator Bill Dodd
District 3, California State Senate
The Distinguished Travel Champion Award recognizes an elected or appointed state official who has exhibited outstanding political leadership on an issue or issues of importance to the travel and tourism industry in California.
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As a fifth-generation Californian and Napa native, Senator Bill Dodd understands the importance of protecting travel and tourism in the Golden State. For years, he has been a true champion of California travel and tourism, collaborating and working closely with CalTravel on legislation impacting the industry.
Sen. Dodd represents all of Napa, Solano, and Yolo counties and portions of Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. He is chair of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee and is a member of the Transportation Committee; the Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee; the Business, Professions & Economic Development Committee, and the Insurance Committee. He is co-chair of the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry and the Legislative Delta Caucus. Over the years, his work has spanned many topics—from improving the environment and public education to wildfire protection and data privacy.
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STEWARDSHIP & SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION AWARD
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Julie Packard
Founding Executive Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Stewardship & Sustainability Champion Award recognizes an individual or organization member who, through their commitment and leadership, has made a significant contribution to elevating California’s efforts on stewardship and sustainability to preserve our natural resources for future generations.
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Monterey has been paving the way in sustainability and stewardship for years, and one local organization that's truly making waves is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Julie Packard is founding executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and a leading voice for science-based policy reform in support of a healthy global ocean.
Under Julie’s leadership, the Aquarium has pioneered innovative exhibits and education initiatives, and engaged on ocean issues ranging from sustainable global fisheries and aquaculture to plastic pollution, climate change, and science-based conservation of marine wildlife and ecosystems, including sea otters, sharks, and bluefin tuna.
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30 & UNDER EMERGING LEADER AWARDS
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The 30 & Under Emerging Leader Awards recognize individual members, 30 years old or under, who have contributed through their individual efforts, to the promotion of travel, tourism, and hospitality in California. These exceptional individuals have demonstrated the skills, talents, attitudes, and initiative that are the hallmarks of emerging leaders.
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Sponsoring a CalTravel Award is a great way to showcase your business while supporting our industry heroes and emerging leaders. If you're interested in exploring an award sponsorship opportunity, please click the button below or contact Reena Evenson at reena@caltravel.org.
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