Nashville Adventures Fields a Team of Winners at the 2026 GNHA Stars of the Industry Awards

Nashville Adventures

Nashville Adventures Ghost Tour

Founder Paul Whitten won 2025 Tourism GM of the Year for Nashville and Tennessee. Now his company and Operations Director Cody Witten are 2026 finalists.

We set out to build a team of winners, and this year both our company and our Operations Director Cody Witten are Stars of the Industry finalists.”

— Paul Whitten, Founder, Nashville Adventures

NASHVILLE, TN, UNITED STATES, July 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Nashville Adventures keeps collecting hardware. The veteran-owned walking tour and storytelling company has landed two finalist nominations in the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association (GNHA) 2026 Stars of the Industry Awards: the company earns a nod in the Community Service Award category, and Operations Director Cody Witten advances as a finalist for Tourism Manager of the Year. Both nominations build on a banner 2025 for the company's leadership, when founder Paul Whitten swept Tourism General Manager of the Year honors at both the city and state level. Winners across all eighteen categories will be revealed live on Thursday, July 30 at Nissan Stadium.

Founder Paul Whitten set the tone last year. In 2025, he was named Tourism General Manager of the Year for both Nashville and the State of Tennessee, planting the company's leadership at the top of the city and state hospitality rankings at the same time. This year the spotlight widens to the rest of the roster. Stack the founder's 2025 titles alongside the company's 2026 Community Service nomination and Operations Director Cody Witten's finalist run, and the picture comes into focus: Nashville Adventures is proud to field a genuine team of winners across the Nashville and Tennessee hospitality space.

The Stars of the Industry Awards spotlight the people and organizations that raise the bar for Nashville hospitality and tourism. Nashville Adventures competes in one of the busiest tourism markets in the country, and it does so as a company that opened its doors in September 2023. Two finalist nominations this year, built on the founder's back-to-back Tourism General Manager of the Year wins the year before, and all before the company's third birthday, signal a team that punches well above its weight.

The Community Service nomination traces straight back to how the company operates. Nashville Adventures gives back on every single tour, donating one percent of all revenue, not profits, to veteran-related causes, including Operation Stand Down Tennessee. Every guest who books a walk through the city helps fund real support for local veterans and their families. Service is not a side project here. It is wired into the business model.

"Being recognized alongside the best in Nashville hospitality fires up our whole team," said Paul Whitten, founder of Nashville Adventures and a U.S. Army veteran. "We set out to tell Nashville's stories the right way and to build giving back into the business from day one. Last year I was honored as Tourism General Manager of the Year for both Nashville and the State of Tennessee. This year, watching our company earn a Community Service finalist nod and our Operations Director Cody stand up as a finalist tells me we are building a team of winners. That is exactly what I set out to do."

Whitten founded Nashville Adventures after an Army career that included leading electronic warfare operations in Afghanistan in support of more than 2,000 service members, followed by three years of Peace Corps service in Armenia. He credits the company's guides and managers, led by Operations Director Cody Witten, for turning that mission into an experience guests remember and rave about.

"Cody sets the standard for how we treat our guests, and he has earned every bit of this recognition," Whitten said. "When your people win, the whole company wins."

About Nashville Adventures
Nashville Adventures is a veteran-owned walking tour and storytelling company founded in 2023 by U.S. Army veteran Paul Whitten. The company delivers historically grounded experiences across the city, including history walking tours, ghost tours, pub crawls, and corporate and team-building events, and donates one percent of all revenue to veteran-related causes. Learn more at nashvilleadventures.com.

About the GNHA Stars of the Industry Awards
Founded in 1970, the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association (GNHA) provides a collective voice for one of the largest industries in the greater Nashville area. Its Stars of the Industry Awards recognize outstanding individuals and organizations across the region's lodging, dining, and tourism sectors. The 2026 ceremony takes place Thursday, July 30, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Nissan Stadium.

Paul Whitten
Nashville Adventures LLC
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