Visit Jacksonville wants grow the River City's image as a sports tourism destination.
The local tourism agency has hired a longtime expert in the business of sports.
Tom Norton joined Visit Jacksonville Monday as a new National Account Manager, focusing on sports tourism.
Norton started his career at the U.S. Soccer Federation where he spent two years as coordinator.
In 2006 he transitioned into Operations Associate at the Orange Bowl Committee in Miami and since 2009 he has held several positions at the Gator Bowl Sports/Jacksonville Sports Council, the latter one being Vice President of Events and Operations.
In his role as VP, Norton helped secure several sporting events including SEC Gymnastics Championship (’10, ‘17), NCAA Basketball Rounds 1 & 2 (’14, ’19), SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament (‘16), FSU – Boise State Football (‘19) and the Navy – Notre Dame Football Game (‘16).
“Visit Jacksonville has a new commitment to grow even further Jacksonville’s image as a top tier sporting destination and we know that adding Tom to our team will help us achieve that goal,” said Michael Corrigan, President and CEO of Visit Jacksonville in an email to WJCT News.
Corrigan said Norton knows how to book big events that attracts fans and visitors.
