Georgia.org Peach Byte December 13, 2007 In this issue... 1) TOUR DE GEORGIA HOST CITY ANNOUCEMENTS 2) CREATIVE ECONOMIES INITIATIVE GAINING GREAT MOMENTUM 3) AGRITOURISM SYMPOSIUM A MAJOR HIT AND HUGE COMPONENT OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMIES INITIATIVE 4) GEORGIA'S CREEK CLUB RANKED AMONG WORLD'S ELITE NEW LAYOUTS 5) INTERNATIONAL MEDIA GET DOWN WITH GEORGIA MUSIC 6) GDECD SALES TEAM UPDATE 7) GDEcD REGIONAL LISTENING SESSION WRAP-UP 8) AGREEMENT OPENS US DOOR FOR CHINESE TOURISTS 9) GEORGIA LAUNCHES 511 TRAFFIC INFORMATION SERVICE 10) TIA, TBR AND DISCOVER AMERICA PARTNERSHIP TO MERGE 11) SURVEY: BRIGHT FORECAST FOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL 12) TRAVEL TRENDS: STUDY FINDS GUESTS PREFER RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS 13) TRAVE TRENDS: HOTELS GIVE TVS 5-STAR TREATMENT WITH SERVICE UPGRADES 14) TRAVEL TRENDS: ON THE JOB, EVERYWHERE 15) TECHNO TOURISM: WAYMARKING OFFERS NEW WAY TO PROMOTE ATTRACTIONS & EVENTS 16) CULINARY TOURISM IS THE FOCUS OF TRAVEL SOUTH'S INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN TARGETING CANADIANS 1) TOUR DE GEORGIA HOST CITY ANNOUCEMENTS From the salty marshes and ocean shoreline of the Georgia coast to the majestic skyline of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 12 Georgia communities have been selected as the official Host Venues for the sixth annual Tour de Georgia, scheduled April 21-27, 2008. The introduction of these Host Venues was announced this week by Lt. Governor Casey Cagle at a press conference at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. Cagle also recognized the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children's as the new beneficiary for the Tour next year. Five new communities will host the Tour for the first time Road Atlanta/Braselton, Statesboro, Suwanee/Gwinnett Co., Tybee Island, and Washington. Savannah hosted the overall start of the inaugural Tour de Georgia in 2003. Other returning Host Venues include Atlanta (2003, 2007), Augusta (2005, 2006), Blairsville (2004-2006), Brasstown Bald Mountain/Towns Co. (2004-2007), Dahlonega (2004-2006), and Gainesville (2003, 2005). 2008 Tour de Georgia Host Cities: Stage 1: Monday, April 21 Tybee Island, Ga. to Savannah, Ga. Stage 2: Tuesday, April 22 Statesboro, Ga. to Augusta, Ga. Stage 3: Wednesday, April 23 Washington, Ga. to Gainesville, Ga. Stage 4: Thursday, April 24 Road Atlanta/Braselton, Ga. (Team Time Trial) Stage 5: Friday, April 25 Suwanee/Gwinnett Co., Ga. to Dahlonega., Ga. Stage 6: Saturday, April 26 Blairsville/Union Co., Ga. to Brasstown Bald Mtn/Towns County, Ga. Stage 7: Sunday, April 27 Atlanta, Ga. (Circuit Race) 2) CREATIVE ECONOMIES INITIATIVE GAINING GREAT MOMENTUM Six down and four to go! The town hall meetings in Martinez, Statesboro, Buena Vista, Blairsville, Rome and Athens were well attended as each community outlined their "wish lists" for strengthening their region's creative economy. The rooms were filled with seasoned artists, aspiring artists, out-of-retirement artists, downtown and city managers, festival organizers, gift shop owners and everything in between as they talked about what's working, what's broken and what's on the horizon for arts centric entrepreneurs. On January 10 the next wave of town halls begin in Macon, followed by Metro Atlanta on January 16, Moultrie on January 24 and ending in Savannah on February 1. Contact the regional tourism rep in your area for event details. Visit www.georgia.org/foundation to review the minutes and participants list from past sessions. For more information, contact Gilda Watters at gwatters@georgia.org. 3) AGRITOURISM SYMPOSIUM A MAJOR HIT AND HUGE COMPONENT OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMIES INITIATIVE More than 170 individuals from across the state attended the "Symposium of Discovery" at the Agricenter in Perry. Informational workshops and panel discussions shed light on programs and activities in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky as well as successful ventures in Georgia. Workshop presenters delved into farm tours, markets & festivals, packaging and marketing your product, craft, heritage and nature based tourism. The concept of buying Georgia Made and serving Georgia Grown as a campaign to promote locally produced products and productions was highlighted and embraced by attendees. Gift guides were handed out to get participants started during the current holiday season in locating Georgia Made Georgia Grown products. The event concluded with a rousing show of support to organize a Georgia Agritourism Association to galvanize and represent Georgia's agribusiness and tourism entities. Stay tuned for future educational events on Agritourism in Georgia. 4) GEORGIA'S CREEK CLUB RANKED AMONG WORLD'S ELITE NEW LAYOUTS The Creek Club at Reynolds Plantation has been ranked by Travel + Leisure Golf Magazine among the top 10 new golf courses in the world for 2007. In its November/December 2007 issue, T + L Golf Magazine recognizes eight courses in the United States, one in New Zealand and one in Canada to comprise its latest in an annual series of newcomer awards, recognizing excellence in golf course design world-wide. Located on Lake Oconee at one of the world's renowned golf resort communities, The Creek Club was listed No. 7 overall and is the only course selected from the Southeast. Designed by Jim Engh, The Creek Club opened this summer as the first member-only golf course at Reynolds Plantation. The complete list of Travel + Leisure's Golf Magazine list of Top 10 New Golf Courses in the world is available at http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/golf-best-new-courses-2007. 5) INTERNATIONAL MEDIA GET DOWN WITH GEORGIA MUSIC GDEcD's International Music Media FAM kicked off on December 11 and is featuring some of Georgia's wonderful music related tourism assets. The journalists arrived from London on Tuesday, December 11 to take part in Georgia's Music City Tour. The attending journalists are Thomas Mitchelson of the Sun (circulation = 3.2 million), Brian Hancill with the Sunday Mirror (circulation = 1.86 million) and John MacLean at the Sunday Herald (circulation = 60,000). The journalists kicked off the tour in Atlanta on Tuesday. On Thursday, Stefanie Paupeck, GDEcD communications specialist, will escort the group to Macon and Athens through Sunday. In related news, the Washington Post recently did a fantastic article on Macon's music scene title "Good Golly! It's Macon Music." To view the entire article, visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/12/07/AR2007120700873.html. 6) GDECD SALES TEAM UPDATE Katie Baasen, Senior Sales Manager attended National Tour Association (NTA) in Kansas City, MO from November 2 - 7. Katie met with 44 tour operators during prescheduled appointments. GDEcD had a sponsorship booth with seven GA partners who co-sponsored. In addition, 26 GA delegates from DMO, hotels and attractions were in attendance. Pam Kruseck represented GDEcD at the Ontario Motor Coach Association from November 10 14. Pam had 29 pre-scheduled appointments with 29 Canadian tour operators who are interested in sending groups to Georgia. The majority of the tour operators in attendance work with senior and education groups. Tour operators were interested in Atlanta and Savannah. Katie Baasen attended World Travel Market (WTM), the biggest international show of the year, in London from November 12 15. Georgia participated in the Destination Pavilion featuring the Deep South cooperative states (LA, AL, MS, TN, NC and SC). Katie Baasen, Anne Young (GDEcD's Director of Sales UK and Ireland) and the ACVB's Brandon Barnes were in attendance. They had 48 pre-scheduled appointments with tour operators and journalists. Pam Kruseck, consumer sales manager, attended the Toronto Gourmet Food and Wine Expo from November 15 18. Pam met leisure travelers who were interested in planning a trip to Georgia. Pam said, "There was a great response to our presence at the show." "Many attendees have been to Georgia before and can't wait to come back." She also said that many attendees were very familiar with Georgia and were looking forward to visiting. The big points of interest were golf, Atlanta and Savannah. The event was a co-op opportunity with Travel South. Katie Baasen and Stefanie Paupeck attended Rhythms of the South `Southern Marketplace' event in New Orleans from November 28 December 2. Katie had 33 pre-scheduled appointments with tour operators from Brazil, U.K., South Africa and Switzerland during the two day marketplace. Stefanie met with attending journalists promoting Georgia as a travel destination. For more information on these and other sales opportunities, contact Katie Baasen at kbaasen@georgia.org. 7) GDECD REGIONAL LISTENING SESSION WRAP-UP Charlie Gatlin, Deputy Commissioner for Tourism and Marketing, Kevin Langston, Assistant Commissioner of Tourism, GDEcD officials and tourism staff recently visited all nine travel regions to take part in Listening Sessions. GDEcD received feedback on how to improve Fulfillment, Research and the Website. The team is compiling all the valuable feedback and suggestions will be utilized to perfect our Fulfillment system, Research and the Website. We would like to thank those of you who cam out and participated in one of the sessions. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Presentations from the Listening Sessions are available on www.marketgeorgia.org in the Industry Presentation section. 8) AGREEMENT OPENS US DOOR FOR CHINESE TOURISTS China and the United States signed an agreement this month making it much easier for Chinese tourists to visit the US on tourist visas, sources said. On Tuesday the Chinese government formally granted the US Approved Destination Status (ADS) after years of negotiation. This means as soon as next year, Chinese travelers will be able to go to local tour agencies and travel in tour groups to America. At present, the US only issues business travel visas to Chinese travelers. The agreement is expected to significantly boost the tourism industry in the US, improve bilateral economic exchanges, as well as help ease the trade deficit the US has run up with China. China ranked as the 17th largest international market for visitors to the United States with more than 320,000 coming in 2006, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The visitors spent $2.1 billion in the United States, or more than $6,000 per person. The department expects the number of Chinese visitors to rise to 579,000 by 2011. 9) GEORGIA LAUNCHES 511 TRAFFIC INFORMATION SERVICE Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Department of Transportation launched Georgia 511, a new statewide phone service providing free traffic and travel information to commuters and travelers. "We continue to look for ways to make state government more accessible and customer friendly," said Governor Perdue, who officially declared Georgia 511 open for business. "The new Georgia 511 service will connect motorists to information needed to avoid a construction zone, find a destination or discover a way around a traffic jam." Georgia 511 provides an extensive menu of options available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Callers connect to the system by simply dialing 5-1-1 from any landline or mobile phone. The service provides statewide traffic conditions, route-specific information and details on road or lane closures due to construction, incidents or weather. Estimated travel times are available for major roads within the metro-Atlanta area. Additionally, connections are available to transit providers, major airports, rideshare organizations, tourism information and 511 systems in neighboring states. An automated voice recognition system guides callers through the service. Callers can also access live operators at the Transportation Management Center to report accidents, request HERO assistance or obtain additional information. Georgia 511 has launched a companion website at www.511ga.org and a tollfree number for callers from outside the state, 1-877-MYGA511. 10) TIA, TBR AND DISCOVER AMERICA PARTNERSHIP TO MERGE Beginning in 2008, the Travel Industry Association (TIA), the Travel Business Roundtable (TBR) and the Discover America Partnership will begin the process of becoming a single organization in 2009. This venture will strengthen their internal government relations capabilities, create an industry-wide grassroots program, establish a public policy research center and enhance their strategic communications. A name for the new entity hasn't been determined but will be based on all appropriate market research and industry input. To find out more, visit http://www.tia.org/resources/pdfs/gov_affairs/TIATBR_Statement_nov2007.pdf. 11) SURVEY: BRIGHT FORECAST FOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL According to a recent article in Lodging Magazine, despite an uncertain economy, high gas prices and crowded airports, two-thirds of American say they plan to travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to a recently released study by Deloitte. In its annual travel survey, Deloitte also reports that 75 percent of Americans say they will spend as much money on leisure travel in the coming year as they did last year. That's good news considering the report states that 93 percent of respondents said they had taken a leisure trip in the last year and 16 percent said they had taken at least four leisure trips in the last year. Among the study's other finding, new travel segments have seen an increase. Nearly half of the respondents to the survey said they would like to or currently take "adventure travel" trips and more than one-quarter said they would like to or already participate in "volunteer" travel. Both of these segments are heavily represented in younger age groups (18-29). However, one-third of Americans 75years-old and older also said they would be interested in adventure travel. To view the entire article, visit http://www.lodgingmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=C872614695AD4FD88E B7F0BABB53066F&nm=Archives&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3A Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=0063E4F41B5 D4E4A9A8E05FE9F5DD0E1 12) TRAVEL TRENDS: STUDY FINDS GUESTS PREFER RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS During busy times, guests at casual-style restaurants end up waiting for a table, but they don't like it. Given the choice, a Cornell study finds that most of them would prefer to make reservations. The study, "Customer Satisfaction with Seating Policies in Casual-Dining Restaurants," by Sheryl E. Kimes and Jochen Wirtz, gave respondents the choice of making reservations, calling ahead for a place on the waitlist, or a simple first-come, first-served waitlist. Reservations won hands down. The report is available at no charge from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research website, http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2007.html. 13) TRAVE TRENDS: HOTELS GIVE TVS 5-STAR TREATMENT WITH SERVICE UPGRADES Large hotel chains are upgrading their TV programming as digital technology expands possibilities and cable obsessed travelers demand more of what they have at home. Hotels are swapping out old tube TVs for high-definition sets, which greatly expand the video possibilities. And they're expanding programming options so that travelers are more likely to be able to tune in to their hometown sports team, an old TV show or current-season network programs they may have missed. In recent years, 20 to 30 channels and a menu of movies and games had become the standard for most hotel chains. Upgrades were slow to come because of high costs but high occupancy and rising room rates have provided the industry with plenty of money in recent years, and improving TVs and program selection has become a priority as hotels upgrade their buildings and amenities. To find out more, visit http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-11-12tvupgrades_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip. 14) TRAVEL TRENDS: ON THE JOB, EVERYWHERE One challenge of the work-anywhere lifestyle is that not everywhere is designed for people who need to do work. But hotels and airports are gradually catching on to the fact that mobile workers need more help getting their jobs done on the road. Hotels that cater to laptop-toting travelers are scrambling to add electrical outlets in easy-to-reach places, install better task lighting and design chairs with flat armrests that can double as desks. They are putting desks on casters so the desks can be wheeled in view of the television or even extend over the bed. And perhaps most important to business travelers, some hotel chains are installing technology to make their Internet service more reliable or adding employees to offer better support when guests call for help. To find out more, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/business/20laptop.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&o ref=slogin. 15) TECHNO TOURISM: WAYMARKING OFFERS NEW WAY TO PROMOTE ATTRACTIONS & EVENTS If you're promoting a tourist attraction, events and other sites, here's a cool social media tool to use in your publicity campaign. It's called Waymarking, and you can do it at www.Waymarking.com. The Web site is dedicated to marking interesting places from abstract public sculptures to Minor League baseball stadiums. You may post photos, link back to your Web site and search for locations similar to yours. The catch is you must know the longitude and latitude of what you're promoting. You can post for free, but a premium membership of $3 a month or $30 a year gives you full use of the site. 16) CULINARY TOURISM IS THE FOCUS OF TRAVEL SOUTH'S INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN TARGETING CANADIANS The South's food and restaurants are playing a major role in marketing travel to the Southern States. Travel South USA (TSUSA), a marketing consortium of twelve Southern states, recently launched a food-centric marketing campaign specifically targeting the Canadian travel market. A major focal point of the Fall campaign was the Travel South Pavilion at the Toronto Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, November 15-18, 2007. The show was expected to attract more than 35,000 visitors to the downtown Metro Convention Center. Over 1,200 wines, beers and spirits from around the world and culinary samplings make the Expo one of the most anticipated shows of the year. Pam Kruseck, GDEcD's Consumer Sales Manager, attended on behalf of Georgia. You can find more information about this show and others in the GDEcD Sales Team Update. Other innovative initiatives of this ten month campaign include a new website (www.travelsouthflavours.com), newspaper inserts, public relation appearances, social networking opportunities, contests, video games, online TV and recipes. FEEDBACK WELCOME We look forward to your feedback and comments. Please contact us at feedback@georgia.org. SHARE THE PEACH BYTE To sign-up yourself or someone else up for this monthly newsletter, please e-mail peachbyte@georgia.org.