The 2025 Georgia Tourism Awards were presented at the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (GACVB) Annual Conference. The conference was held February 2 – 5 in Gwinnett, GA. The Georgia Tourism Awards celebrate industry achievements and those who have excelled in leadership, creativity, initiative, innovation, customer service, and partnership.
The Georgia Tourism Award recipients were recognized as part of a special ceremony, co-sponsored by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Access Atlanta. Award winners are as follows:
2025 Georgia Tourism Award Winners
Paul Broun Marketing Initiative
This award recognizes the entity that demonstrates an effective and unique marketing initiative. Given in memory of Senator Paul Broun of Athens who was a huge supporter of tourism. He was elected in 1963 and served many years in service to Georgia. He served as Chairman of the Economic Development, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Committee and played a vital role in the development and appropriations of tourism funding.
● Visit Woodstock GA Website Redesign: Budget category under $1 million
● Cobb Travel and Tourism-Bubbles and Brews: Budget category over $1 million
Larry Allen Tourism Leadership Award
This award recognizes an individual who demonstrates excellence in leadership skills and abilities. Given in memory of Larry Allen, who was General Manager of Stone Mountain and exemplified all around friendship, support and leadership in the tourism industry.
● Lisa Anders, COO of Explore Gwinnett
Al Burruss Creative Expression
This award recognizes an individual or entity that develops a creative community public relations initiative. Representative Al Burruss of Marietta was the majority leader and a huge tourism advocate. He was instrumental in using his creativity and energy to get the TourismDivision its first major appropriation in 1985 of $2.5 million which was a drastic increase from the $300,000 allocated in prior years.
● Roswell Brew Talks: Budget category under $1 million
● 31-81 Official Lifestyle Brand fo Jekyll Island: Budget category over $1 million
Paul Nelson Outdoor Recreation and Preservation This award was established in 2013 to honor Paul Nelson. Paul had a passion for Georgia’s state parks and devoted his professional life to sustaining and improving the state’s natural resources. He spent most of his career working for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, where he last served as assistant director of its parks, recreation, and historic sites division.
● Lake Lanier Olympic Park Foundation
Tom Kilgore Lifetime Achievement
This award recognizes an individual who exemplifies outstanding lifetime commitment towards
tourism. Named for Tom Kilgore, legislator from Douglasville, who was an early advocate and
champion of tourism. Tom was one of the architects of the Hotel/Motel Tax legislation. In 2011,
the Governor’s Tourism Conference Lifetime Achievement Award and the GACVB Tom Kilgore
Award were combined to form the current Tom Kilgore Lifetime Achievement Award.
● Paul Cramer, The Classic Center
Bill Hardman Sr Tourism Champion Awards
This series of awards was renamed in honor of Bill Hardman Sr. in 2014 in recognition of his tireless support and guidance to the entire tourism industry. There are four categories under the Tourism Champion umbrella in which a Tourism Champion award may be given: Private Sector, Partnership, Product Development, and Government. Award recipients are individuals and organizations that have taken leadership roles in developing tourism opportunities in communities across the state.
Private Sector Champion Award: This award is given to an individual within the private sector who has worked tirelessly to spread the message and garner support for Georgia tourism. The first recipient of this award was Phil Jacobs, President, Georgia BellSouth. As founder of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s tourism committee, Jacobs has long been a proponent of the state’s tourism industry as a viable, promising tool for economic development.
● Sophia Smith, Little Light Coffee Co. | Middle Georgia Coffee Crawl
Partnership Champion Award: This award is given to an alliance that collaborates to increase visitation and tourism expenditures in Georgia. The first recipient of this award was Georgia Department of Transportation which partnered successfully with GDEcD and provided the official state maps for distribution at Georgia’s Visitor Information Centers.
● Cartersville Bartow County Tourism | Welcome to Museum City Destination Com Corner and Kiosk
Product Development Champion Award: is given to a partner agency or individual for outstanding work
in attracting capital investments for tourism projects. The first awardrecognized Nancy Cobb, OneGeorgia Authority, which leveraged the state’s tobacco settlement funds to attract capital investments for tourism projects in the state’s rural areas.
● Richmond Hill Convention and Visitors Bureau | Henry Ford’s Southern Town Driving Trail Governmental Champion Award: This award is given to an individual or group who has shown extraordinary support of tourism through their legislative or organizational efforts.
● Representative Matthew Gambill Destination Marketing Visionary Award:
● Norm Easterbrook, RiverCenter for the Performing Arts Further details about the individual projects can be found in the awards ceremony script and the separate visual presentation. Photographs from the awards luncheon are also available through GACVB.
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