Candy Rodriguez Named 2026 Rising Star Award Recipient by the Southeast Tourism Society

Visit Lake Charles Director of Communications Candy Rodriguez has been named the 2026 Rising Star Award recipient by the Southeast Tourism Society (STS). The award recognizes emerging travel and tourism professionals who demonstrate exceptional leadership, creativity, professional achievement, industry involvement, and a commitment to advancing the tourism industry.

Rodriguez joined Visit Lake Charles in September 2023 after nearly a decade as a television journalist. Since then, she has played a key role in expanding the organization’s communications efforts through media relations, stakeholder and community engagement, tourism advocacy, and bilingual outreach.

“Candy came into the tourism industry with a journalist’s instinct for finding the story, but what she has accomplished goes well beyond storytelling,” said Kathryn Shea Duncan, senior director of social media/communications at Visit Lake Charles. “She has found ways to connect tourism to the people who live here, strengthen relationships with our partners and media, reach new audiences, and bring tremendous energy to our organization and the industry. I’m very proud of
her.”

Rodriguez’s nomination highlighted her work leading communications for Just Imagine SWLA, coordinating Chuck Eats Restaurant Week, expanding community outreach, and developing Visit Lake Charles’ first Spanish-language podcast, Visita Lake Charles: Las Voces de Luisiana. Those efforts helped amplify the reach of Visit Lake Charles and key community initiatives, with Just Imagine SWLA generating more than 1.07 million views and impressions in 2025, Chuck Eats spotlighting dozens of locally owned restaurants and the people behind them, and the podcast creating a new platform to connect with Spanish-speaking audiences. 

“Making the move from journalism into tourism marked an entirely new chapter in my career and gave me the opportunity to use the storytelling skills I had developed over the years,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been able to connect visitors with the businesses, experiences, and stories that make Southwest Louisiana special, and I’m incredibly grateful to be recognized for work that means so much to me.”

Rodriguez received the award during the Shining Example Awards Ceremony at the 2026 STS Connections conference Thursday, Sept. 10, in Richmond, Virginia. She joins Visit Lake Charles President and CEO Kyle Edmiston, a 2009 recipient, and Duncan, a 2022 recipient, as current members of the Visit Lake Charles team who have received the STS Rising Star Award.