Visit Franklin Promotes Nate Gaw to Director of Sports Tourism

Nate Gaw has been named the director of sports tourism for Visit Franklin in Tennessee and will lead the bureau’s strategy in emphasizing the attracting of youth and amateur sports events to Williamson County.

Gaw has been with Visit Franklin for 10 years, contributing to the county’s sports tourism growth. He has attracted NCAA postseason tournaments and large-scale tournaments from some of the southeast’s youth soccer, volleyball, baseball and hockey organizations.

“Nate has become a fixture in the youth and amateur sports community across the region, attracting youth and amateur sports events from across the country to host their events in Williamson County,” said Maureen Thornton, Visit Franklin president and chief executive officer. “I am excited to watch him continue to build those relationships and showcase our area as a premier destination to host tournaments and events.”

Additionally, Visit Franklin added Natali Erickson as visitor center manager and Jon Miniot as a staff accountant. Erickson will oversee the visitor center which includes daily operations and events, such as the monthly Art Crawl and pop-up information booths. Miniot has extensive experience in financial management and client relations and will support Visit Franklin’s financial and administrative needs.

“As the hospitality industry continues to grow throughout Williamson County, we are ensuring Visit Franklin does the same and is staffed at a level where we can best support our industry and community,” said Thornton. “Having Natalie onboard will create more capacity for our growing efforts across the county.  Similarly, Jon brings tremendous experience that will allow us to streamline operations.”