Tourism in review [Dec. 2004]

Tourism

December '04 in review . . .

Volume 33 December

Elton John & Ray Charles cd's included in the holiday mailer.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Just in time for the holidays the Georgia Department of Economic Development Tourism Division sent media 200 "Holiday Mailers" containing a press release, letter from Deputy Commissioner Janis Cannon, the new movie sound track "Ray" and Elton John's new CD "Peachtree Road." The mailers were sent as a reminder to national, regional and local media to keep "Georgia On Their Mind" and as a public relations follow-up to the 2004 Travel Media Marketplace theme promoting movies, music and entertainment in Georgia.
Participation in the GDEcD's 2005 Travel Media Marketplace (TMM) continues to grow and registration responses from top qualified national and regional media are coming in for the March 2005 media event in Macon. News articles generated from the Athens hosted 2004 TMM also continue to increase. From March to November 2004 TMM has generated 9,677,161 media impressions with an advertising value of $175,053. Other articles are pending publication.

Media Impressions
565,817,037
Ad Value
$8,288,063

The latest Georgia media coverage numbers have been released.* Georgia Media Coverage by the Numbers: Calendar Year 2004 (Jan. 04 Sept. 04) Media Impressions: 565,817,037 Ad Value: $8,288,063
*(October-December numbers will be released in 2005 during a year end wrap-up)

AWARDS & DESIGNATIONS

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge Reynolds Plantation

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation has been named the "North American Golf Resort of the Year" by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). This global trade association of the golf tourism industry recognizes outstanding golf resorts and destinations based on customer satisfaction, quality of courses and service, value for the money and accessibility of tee time.
"This is unbelievably great news for the Ritz and for Georgia," Janis Cannon, Deputy Commissioner of Tourism said. "With the resort open
continued on next page

Tourism

December '04 in review . . .

Volume 33 December

only two years and to receive the top North American designation is truly an incredible feat. The prestigious designation brings additional focus on Georgia as a primary golf destination." The 2005 IAGTO Awards were announced in December near Lisbon, Portugal, to 850 golf tourism delegates from around the world.

Cuscowilla Savannah's Ballastone Inn

Another Georgia golf destination has also received a top designation. Cuscowilla has been named the #1 Golf Course residential community in the U.S. by "Golf Week" Magazine.
The affluent travel publication Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report has named Savannah's Ballastone Inn the 2005 Grand Award Winner for "The Hideaways of the Year." Only eight properties in the U.S. have received this designation and the award was given to only 25 properties in the world. The publication singled out the world's most captivating hideaway hotels and resorts. Other U.S. properties receiving the award included: Blackberry Farm (Tennessee), The Blantyre (Massachusetts), Home Hill (New Hampshire), Casa Palmero (California), The Lodge at Moosehead Lake (Maine), The Inn of the Five Graces (New Mexico), and Twin Farms (Vermont).

EVENTS

Albany, GA

The Growing Up in Georgia seminar series kicked off in June 2004. There were 8 seminars held statewide. Each seminar focused on current issues facing new agritourism ventures. Sessions included marketing, insurance and risk management, value-added opportunities, keynotes from successful agritourism owners, site visits to successful operations and others. Locations included Thomason, Dawsonville, Rome, Eatonton, Zebulon, Albany, Vidalia and Brunswick. Site visits included McCorkle's Nursery, Burt's Pumpkin Patch, Zion Farms, Hidden Springs Farm, Mark's Melon Patch and Pecan Orchard Plantation. Over 175 CVBs, Chambers, County Extension Agents and independent farmers participated. Each event was sponsored by GDEcD, UGA's Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development Center, Department of Agriculture, The Georgia Rural Development Council and Governor Sonny Perdue's Agricultural Advisory Commission along with other local and regional sponsors.

Tourism

December '04 in review . . .

Volume 33 December

INTERNATIONAL / SALES

Anne Young & Melanie Hawkes

Georgia was well represented at the annual international tour operators and media trade show "Rhythms of the South," held in New Orleans, LA December 2-5. Director of Global Sales Bob Harris and Georgia UK Tourism Representative Anne Young met with operators and wholesalers to discuss increasing promotion of Georgia in their catalogues. Georgia hosted participants during post-trade show familiarization tours including Melanie Hawkes, the product and contract manager for Virgin Holidays in the UK, on a four-day hotel and attraction tour of Savannah and Atlanta. On a separate tour, UK travel writer Chris Coplans traveled the Georgia Coast gathering information for a story on touring Georgia's Highway 17. There were three other groups that toured the state as part of the postfamiliarization tours for Rhythms of the South.

GDEcD tourism sales team has signed with Destinations2Discover, an on-line marketing program that will extend Georgia's tourism message to over 60,000 targeted travel planners. "This program will reach markets that we currently have been unable to reach including group leaders, family reunion planners and convention planners." Laurie Rowe, director of domestic group sales, said. "The D2D team has agreed to put a link on our webpage for any other Georgia advertisers that are participating in their program. The information on the Georgia page will differ each month." Leads generated from the monthly newsletter will be followed up in-house by GDecD. For more information go to www.destinations2discover.com or call ITI Marketing at 912-267-1558.

The GDEcD and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau announced plans during a ceremony Dec. 16, for New Discoveries 2006, a joint trade show which offers Georgia's tourism industry the opportunity to meet one-on-one with travel planners and media. "Georgia has literally billions of dollars in new tourism product, not only in Atlanta, but in every region of our state," Rowe said. "The state's tourism division has partnered with the Atlanta CVB to spearhead the effort. We hope to get Georgia's tourism partners involved, so mark your calendars for April 5 - 8, 2006. Familiarization tours will depart on April 8. GDEcD's annual Travel Media Marketplace will be held in conjunction with the event.

Tourism

December '04 in review . . .

Volume 33 December

MARKETING
The GDEcD, Tourism Division Marketing Manager Molly Gilbert has submitted her resignation to spend more time with her husband and newborn child Audrey Gilbert. Molly has been on maternity leave since September 2004 and will be greatly missed by her co-workers and business associates. Congratulations on the new baby!

Molly Gilbert

NOTE: The bid forms for the 2006 and 2008 the Governor's Conference on Tourism are posted on the tourism website, as well as, the 2005 Tourism Award nomination form. Anyone interest in applying please go to www.MarketGeorgia.org .

REGIONAL UPDATE
For information about what is happening in Georgia Tourism's Nine Travel Regions go to: http://www.georgia.org/tourism/market_ga/media/ regional_updates.asp