SPEAKER BIOS
Barb Newton
President & CEO, California Travel Association
California Travel Association (CalTravel) is the influential, unified voice of the travel and tourism industry in California. As President and CEO, Newton is responsible for leading the organization to protect and advance travel and tourism’s interests through advocacy, collaboration, and education.
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Prior to joining CalTravel, she was President of Sunset Publishing, a diversified publishing company based on the leading media brand in the West. Under her leadership, Sunset launched and grew award-winning California events, an international wine competition, new digital travel tools and partnerships with many California travel and tourism organizations and businesses.
She came to Sunset from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was President of Reiman Media Group, a Midwestern lifestyle media company that included an international tours company and travel magazine. She began her career at Rodale, Inc., where she rose to SVP Managing Director of Women’s Heath Worldwide. Newton has also consulted on strategic planning and business development for clients such as National Geographic, AAA, General Mills, Time Inc., Rodale Inc. and Reader’s Digest.
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Newton serves on the boards of U.S. Travel, Education Week, CSU Hospitality and Tourism Alliance, and the Cal Poly RPTA Advisory Board, and has a BA and MA from Lehigh University. She and her husband Jeff have two children and live in Woodside, California with their beach-loving border collie.