The Oregon coast. (Photo by Canva)

The longtime executive director of Travel Oregon, Todd Davidson, announced he is retiring today after three decades as a public employee. 

While the timing appeared sudden, it came five weeks after the Oregon Journalism Project first contacted Travel Oregon about an investigation into complaints regarding Davidson’s outsized compensation and allegations of a toxic workplace. He earned $477,000 in take-home pay for fiscal 2024, far higher compensation than that of any other state agency director. 

The news of Davidson’s retirement came one day before the CEO was scheduled to sit down for a long-delayed interview with OJP. 

Travel Oregon, a semi-independent state agency with 73 staffers, is funded by the statewide lodging tax of 1.5% on hotel bills that brings in more than $40 million a year. 

Travel Oregon maintains its chief executive’s departure was unrelated to OJP’s questions and public records requests. 

Travel Oregon, also known as the Oregon Tourism Commission, exists to promote tourism, which generates $14 billion of annual economic activity and 120,000 jobs in Oregon. 

An agency that once had scraped by on $3 million a year in state lottery funds grew into a powerhouse after lawmakers approved a lodging tax in 2003. 

Todd Davidson (Photo provided by Travel Oregon via Oregon Journalism Project)

“Travel Oregon is one of the premier state travel organizations,” David Blandford, executive director of State of Washington Tourism, said in a recent interview. 

As a semi-independent agency, Travel Oregon is exempt from state budget laws; personnel, salary and expense laws; and purchasing and procurement laws. Its budget is not subject to executive branch review, nor subject to approval or modification by the Legislature.

Davidson, a native of Iowa, has been Travel Oregon’s chief executive since 1996. 

Davidson’s compensation and some deficient practices at the agency were widely publicized after the 2020 release of a critical audit by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. 

Travel Oregon is overseen by a nine-member board of commissioners who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Eight of the nine represent lodging and tourism sectors, and one is a public-at-large member.

Calls seeking comment from commissioners were not immediately returned Thursday. 

The governor’s office confirmed Davidson’s departure but declined to comment.

OJP plans to publish its full investigation in the coming days.

Oregon Journalism Project

This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit investigative newsroom for the state of Oregon. OJP seeks to inform, engage and empower Oregonians with investigative and watchdog reporting that makes a significant impact at the state and local levels. Its stories appear in partner newspapers across the state. Learn more at oregonjournalismproject.org.

James Neff has served for more than two decades as Investigations Editor for both The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Seattle Times. He's directed and edited seven Pulitzer Prize finalists and three Pulitzer winners.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame and earning his master's from the University of Texas at Austin, Jim worked as a staff reporter at the Austin American-Statesman and his hometown paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He went on to serve as the Willard M. Kiplinger Chair in Public Affairs Reporting at the Ohio State University.
Jim served on Investigative Reporters & Editor's board of directors for a decade, including a term as its president. He currently serves on the board of Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press.
He's written five non-fiction books, and is a co-founder of Spotlight PA, Pennsylvania's statewide nonprofit investigative newsroom that is one of the models for OJP. For years, he and his wife have spent part of their summers near Sisters.