Gathan Borden

Gathan D. Borden is a 19-year veteran of the tourism industry, having spent previous years as Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Destinations International, Vice President of Marketing at VisitLEX, the tourism office of Lexington, KY and in various marketing roles at the tourism office for Louisville, KY. 

A sought-after industry speaker, he speaks frequently at local, regional and national tourism conferences across the country on various marketing topics and trends and in 2020 was selected as one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization” by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). 

As a Client Relationships and Insights Manager at Tourism Economics, Gathan applies his wealth of industry experience and marketing expertise to help destination clients across the US. 

He received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Business Management and Business Marketing from the University of Kentucky in 2001, and in May of 2009, he received his Master of Business Administration at Webster University. 

Gathan is a past board member of the U.S. Travel Association’s Destination Council Board of Advisors, the Kentucky Travel Industry Association, and the American Cancer Society. And given his love for bourbon, he is a founding member of the Lexington-based Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild, which seeks to honor the history of minority’s contributions to the bourbon industry and increase the representation of minority cultures in the spirits industry.