Patrick Harrison

PATRICK HARRISON is Chief Marketing Officer for Visit Tampa Bay. After joining the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) in 2015 as Vice President of Marketing and Communications he quickly set about improving the agency’s reach and effectiveness both domestically and internationally. Through an innovative and aggressive approach he has spearheaded the DMOs marketing transformation and launched major innovative and successful campaigns in domestic and international markets.
His campaigns have been honored with over 30 US and International marketing and PR awards, including multiple Adrian Awards and he was named a Top 25 Extraordinary Mind by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) in 2019. A thought-leader, Patrick has been key to the transition of Visit Tampa Bay into a leadership organization that has expanded its reach into economic development, developed Florida’s only Tourism Marketing District and produced anti-human trafficking campaigns among others.
Before coming to Visit Tampa Bay, he served as Vice President and Director of Public Relations at Paradise Advertising and Marketing, developing award-winning campaigns for a range of clients that included multiple tourism and hospitality clients. In total he has over 30 years of experience at agencies in the U.S. and U.K.
Patrick holds a Master’s Degree in Communications, with an emphasis in Propaganda, from the University of Leeds in his native England as well as a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida. He currently serves on several boards and committees including Destination International’s Marketing and Marketing Disruption Committees, as well as US Travel’s Marketing committee among others. He is former Co-Chair of the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society, past president Tampa Bay chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and past president of Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful. He also acts as spokesperson for Visit Tampa Bay and is a regularly speaker at major conferences, universities and other groups.