In partnership with Lake Lanier Olympic Park and the Lake Lanier Olympic Park (LLOP) Foundation, the Gainesville Convention & Visitors Bureau (Explore Gainesville) was recently awarded the state’s 2025 Paul Nelson Award for Outdoor Recreation and Preservation.
The award was one of several presented at the 2025 Georgia Tourism Awards.
The Paul Nelson Award was established in 2013 to honor a man who 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 Nelson last served as assistant director of its parks, recreation and historic sites division.
The LLOP Foundation is a nonprofit organization serving as a catalyst to unify community efforts relative to participation in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, and other events which impact the Gainesville-Hall County community before, during and after the 1996 Games. Its mission is to “foster the healthy development of rowing and canoe/kayak on Lake Lanier; generate and provide financial resources for the operation of programs at LLOP; provide oversight coordination, communication and input from and with local governments, community and neighbors; encourage community support and involvement; and ensure community inclusion in the use and development of the programs and facilities.”
Receiving the Paul Nelson Award over the last five years were Explore Brookhaven | Lynwood Park, 2024; and Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative, 2023.
But Gainesville isn’t new to recognition at the Georgia Tourism Awards. In 2024, the Gainesville CVB received the Al Burruss Award for Creative Expression, and the Paul Broun Award for Marketing Initiatives in 2023.
To learn more about the Georgia Tourism Awards, visit https://gacvb.memberclicks.net/georgia-tourism-awards.
To learn more about LLOP, the LLOP Foundation and Gainesville CVB, visit www.exploregainesville.org.