Richard Meza is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the San Diego Tourism Authority, recognized as one of the nation’s leading destination marketing organizations. The San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) represents over 1,000 hospitality organizations and serves as the San Diego region’s tourism marketing engine.

Meza joined the San Diego Tourism Authority in 2009. He is responsible for the overall financial operations of the SDTA, including financial reporting, internal control design and compliance, strategic planning, contract negotiation, and cash flow forecasting and management.

Meza’s career is comprised of various financial leadership positions predominately within the hospitality industry. Prior to joining the SDTA, Meza served as Vice President of Finance for Hardage Hotels, a San Diego-based hotel management and development organization. His duties included hotel development analysis and capital finance sourcing, including the refinance of the organization’s entire hotel portfolio. Meza’s other hospitality industry positions include Vice President of Finance for Forte Hotels, an operator of over 250 hotels in the United States and Canada. Meza’s responsibilities with Forte included the execution of hotel acquisitions and operating partnerships. In a non-hospitality industry role, Meza served as Chief Financial Officer of Symitar Systems, a software developer providing enterprise financial management software solutions to the credit union industry.

A San Diego native, Meza is a graduate of San Diego State University.