Visit Lake Charles, the official destination marketing organization for Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana, has named Candy Rodriguez as Director of Communications.

In her new role, Rodriguez will be instrumental in elevating Visit Lake Charles' communication efforts through local media relations, partner and stakeholder engagement, and storytelling in printed and digital publications and media channels. Additionally, she will lead communication efforts in partnership with the Community Foundation to foster the awareness, growth, and enhancement of the Just Imagine SWLA initiative across Southwest Louisiana.

"Candy’s background in journalism, along with her familiarity with our community makes her a strong addition to the Visit Lake Charles team,” said Visit Lake Charles President and CEO, Kyle Edmiston. “We welcome her and look forward to all the contributions she will make in her new role.”

Born in California and raised in Texas, Rodriguez earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Lamar University. Her journey to Visit Lake Charles is marked by a career spanning nearly a decade in communications, primarily as a journalist. She spent several years in Southwest Louisiana at KPLC-TV, where she served as the morning reporter. Most recently, Rodriguez served more than four years as a morning reporter and multimedia journalist at KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas. During her tenure at KXAN-TV, she was selected to cover the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"I am thrilled to welcome Candy to the Visit Lake Charles marketing team,” said Visit Lake Charles Chief Marketing Officer, Timothy Bush.” Her love and passion for our community will be instrumental in our marketing and communication efforts as we continue to work to connect locals with the mission of Visit Lake Charles and connect visitors with the diversity of experiences found throughout Southwest Louisiana.”