Visitor's Magazine
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SLO CAL Summit
The SLO CAL Summit is Visit SLO CAL's annual celebration of the tourism industry. This event brings together multiple sectors throughout SLO CAL including lodging investors, tourism-facing businesses, elected officials and DMO partners for an afternoon of education, updates from SLO CAL’s President & CEO and networking.
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2025 Highlights
Flourishing: Today & Tomorrow
On November 13, 2025, Visit SLO CAL hosted it's annual Summit. The sold out event explored how we can not only sustain, but flourish—as individuals, as organizations and as a community.
This year’s program illuminated the current state of tourism across SLO CAL and California, offered a fresh perspective on who our visitors are and what drives them. We unpacked the science of human flourishing—what it means, why it matters and how it shows up in our work. From evolving brand strategies and breakthrough campaigns to the future of autonomous mobility and inclusive leadership, the SLO CAL Summit blended insight and inspiration with practical tools for shaping a more resilient tomorrow.
Meet the Speakers
Mike Dabadie | CEO & Founding Partner, Heart+Mind Strategies
Mike Dabadie is the CEO and Founding Partner of Heart+Mind Strategies, an Insights, Strategy, Activation consultancy built on the foundation of consumer values and choice-making through human guided AI innovation and strategies. They have won over 11 David Ogilvy Awards for communications campaigns using these principles and are shorted listed for two more in 2025.
Dr. Ryan Olson | Research Professor, University of Virginia
Ryan S. Olson is a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and a research professor at the University of Virginia. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. Established in 2016, the Human Flourishing Program is part of Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. The program is dedicated to advancing the understanding of what it means to live a full and meaningful life, drawing from a range of academic disciplines to build a more integrated approach to human well-being.
Caroline Beteta | President & CEO, Visit California
Caroline Beteta serves as president & CEO of the industry-led Visit California, a nonprofit organization created to market California as a premier travel destination to increase the state’s share of tourism-related revenues. She simultaneously serves as a strategic advisor for the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development (GO-Biz). She is responsible for implementing Visit California’s global marketing program on behalf of the organization’s more than 18,000 investors and serves as the lead spokesperson for California’s travel industry.
Mike O’Shaughnessy | Deputy Aviation Director for Operations, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Mike O’Shaughnessy is the Deputy Aviation Director for Operations for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Mike oversees Airside, Landside and Terminal Operations as well as Ground Transportation. Prior to being promoted to Deputy Aviation Director Mike was an Airport Duty Manager where he managed the day to day function of all aspects of Sky Harbor.
Ron Price | President & CEO, Visit Phoenix
As President & CEO of Visit Phoenix, Ron Price leads the organization in its mission to harness the transformative power of travel, elevating communities and inspiring visitors. Phoenix, the 5th largest city in the United States, is a dynamic hub for travel and tourism, consistently ranked as a top 10 destination for leisure travel and meetings & conventions. Under Ron’s leadership, Visit Phoenix champions the city’s appeal to global audiences, driving economic growth and enhancing the visitor experience.
The Program
Visitor Insights: Understanding Our Audience
Mike Dabadie | Heart+Mind Strategies
Discover who the SLO CAL traveler is with insights from the latest Visitor Profile Study conducted by Heart+Mind Strategies, with a deep dive into visitor trends and an outlook of travel in today’s evolving geopolitical climate.
Human Flourishing: A Fireside Chat
Dr. Ryan Olson | University of Virginia
Mike Dabadie | Heart+Mind Strategies
Join Dr. Ryan Olson and Mike Dabadie for a thought-provoking fireside chat exploring what it means to truly flourish, along with practical framework for how human flourishing shows up in our work every day.
Autonomous Innovation: Transforming Mobility in Phoenix
Ron Price | Visit Phoenix
Mike O’Shaughnessy | Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Explore the future of mobility through the lens of Phoenix’s groundbreaking partnership with Waymo in this forward-looking session featuring insights from Visit Phoenix’s Ron Price and Phoenix Sky Harbor’s Mike O’Shaughnessy, designed to spark conversation and inspiration.
Forward Together: Building the Future of California’s Tourism Economy
Caroline Beteta | Visit California
Tourism is the lifeline that protects jobs, supports small businesses and drives economic opportunity. As California continues to navigate increasingly frequent crises, the industry’s resilience has never been more critical. Join Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta for an update on global marketing programs that break through brand tarnish, accelerate recovery and drive demand for the Golden State.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
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