Brett Oetting is the President & CEO of Visit Corpus Christi, the largest Destination Management Organization on the Texas coast with a team of 30+ award winning tourism professionals responsible for driving an annual economic growth to the Coastal Bend.
In Brett’s time in South Texas, he led Visit Corpus Christi to become one of less than 30 DMO’s worldwide with Destinations International DMAP with Distinction international accreditation and became one of only two DMO leaders in the country to create Tourism Public Improvement Districts (TPID) in two different cities.
Visit Corpus Christi is an internationally accredited state, national and international award winning DMO, the 2022 Texas Association of CVB’s DMO of the year and a national award-winning team culture organization.
Brett also created the Corpus Christi Sports Commission, Corpus Christi Film & Music Commission and is one of the first five DMO’s in the country to undergo an organizational DEI Assessment and strategy with Tourism Diversity Matters, where they scored the highest ever spiritual capital score on the Diamond Inclusiveness Assessment highlighting the organization's ability to deliver inclusive moral behavior, trust, sharing and motivation. In 2023, Visit Corpus Christi was awarded the FiredUp! Culture, Culture Achievement award given to the top destinations with great employee cultures.
Visit Corpus Christi has shattered tourism records for three straight years, leading the Texas coast in overnight visitation and revenues, and economic impact.
As Board Chair Destinations International’s Certified Destination Management Professional (CDME) program, Brett teaches courses on leadership, economic development partnerships, talent attraction and hospitality workforce development to destination leaders around the globe.
Brett is a past national award winner in the hotel and restaurant industries and as a Working Genius Certified Facilitator, prides himself on developing and pushing individuals to see their true potential.
Brett is very involved with advocating for community and tourism at the local, state and national level including sitting on the boards of U.S. Travel Association, Destinations International, Simpleview, Texas Travel Alliance, Texas Association of CVB's, Texas Hotel Lodging Association, Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation and the Corpus Christi International Airport.
Prior to his career in tourism, Brett was Executive Vice President of Operations at Parrish Hotels where he worked for 10 years winning multiple national awards in the hotel industry including a Wyndham hotels top brand in the country two years in a row as a General Manager. Brett also spent many years in the restaurant industry with Darden Restaurants where he won the coveted Red Lobster Diamond Club Award for top restaurant in the country.