William Pate

President and CEO

As president and CEO of Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB), William Pate is responsible for maintaining tourism as one of the city’s top economic drivers. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry brought an estimated 57 million visitors annually to metro Atlanta, generating $16 billion in visitor spending and sustaining approximately 300,000 jobs.

A native of Atlanta, Pate is respected locally for his leadership and marketing expertise. He is an appointed member of the Georgia Tourism Foundation, charged with increasing the state’s position as a destination for travel. In 2022, he was named one of Atlanta’s 500 most powerful leaders by Atlanta Magazine. American Marketing Association’s Atlanta chapter awarded him its lifetime achievement award in 2020. Atlanta Business League previously named him Herman J. Russell CEO of the Year. Atlanta Business Chronicle honored Pate multiple times as one of Atlanta’s 50 most admired CEOs and named him to its 100 most influential Atlantans list every year since 2009. He is a past honoree of Atlanta Magazine’s most influential leaders in Atlanta and Georgia Trend magazine’s Notable Georgians

A prominent leader in the nation’s hospitality industry, Pate is a past chair of the board of directors of U.S. Travel Association and Destinations International. Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International honored him as one of the top 25 most extraordinary minds in sales and marketing, and he received the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association award of appreciation for his commitment to diversity and inclusion within the travel industry.

Pate’s involvement in Atlanta’s sports industry includes serving on the boards of Atlanta Sports Council, Cricket Celebration Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame. He served as vice president of the Atlanta Football Host Committee which managed the College Football Playoff National Championship, board member for the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee for Super Bowl LIII and vice chairman of the Atlanta Basketball Host Committee, which oversaw planning for the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four. Atlanta Business Chronicle named him one of Georgia’s 30 most influential sports business figures of 2020.

Pate is very active in the Atlanta community as a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, while also serving on the board of directors for Central Atlanta Progress, First Tee Atlanta, Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, Metro Atlanta Chamber and Woodruff Arts Center. He is on the Board of Councilors of The Carter Center, Children’s Museum of Atlanta advisory board and the industry advisory board for Georgia State University’s Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality Administration.

Prior to joining ACVB, Pate served as president of Career Sports & Entertainment, a national sports marketing and representation firm. He is the former chief marketing officer of BellSouth, one of the world’s largest communications companies. Prior to joining BellSouth, Pate supervised domestic and international advertising and communications at MCI during the telecom ad wars of the 1990s.

Pate attended Georgia State University where he received his undergraduate degree in journalism and his graduate degree in communications.

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