Georgia tourism industry e-newsletter [Mar. 2017]

March 2017



This month, we are celebrating a momentous occasion: the opening of our first new visitor information center in nearly 20 years! The beautiful new center, located on I-95 South at the South Carolina border, was constructed by our colleagues at the Department of Transportation in partnership with the Georgia State Financing Investment Commission. It provides a fantastic welcome to our visitors coming down the East Coast. Beautiful new exhibits from Savannah and the Golden Isles will give visitors a terrific foretaste of the experience the Georgia Coast has to offer, a great preview of our state overall, and will encourage visitors to get off the highway and stay with us a while. If you have an opportunity, drive on over and take a look, and say hello to the stellar VIC staff there!

Top News Items from Georgia Tourism
1. The new Georgia Visitor Information Center in Savannah is open! On March 10, 2017, Georgia Tourism celebrated the grand opening of the newly constructed Georgia Visitor Information Center in Savannah. Located on I-95 South at mile marker 111, the state-of-the-art building offers visitors a bright welcoming environment to gather information about the Peach State and plan their trips. Read all about the new center and see pictures on MarketGeorgia.org.
2. Partner Opportunity: Georgia Film Selfie Spot Tour Georgia Tourism is developing a Georgia Film Selfie Spot Tour to encourage travel to filming sites during the Year of Georgia Film. The initial nine locations are based on the Explore Georgia in 9 Films initiative, however, partners with notable film tourism product may also be included. Find a description of the program and pricing information on MarketGeorgia.org. If you are interested, notify Graham Sweeney (gsweeney@georgia.org) as soon as possible. The deadline for participation is Friday, March 17.
3. ExploreGeorgia.org launches a new Media Room Last month, the new ExploreGeorgia.org Media Room, opened for business! This is our first media room dedicated solely to travel media and will be used to frequently update journalists on tourism news in Georgia. It features story ideas, press releases and a media request page. Include Emily Murray, (emurray@georgia.org) on your press release distribution list so she can add your releases to the media room and share them. Very soon we will have an Explore Georgia PR Twitter page that will help us share news, information and pitches to media! Check out the Media Room!
4. Apply for a scholarship to attend Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College Send in your application by April 10 for a full scholarship to STS Marketing College! Any tourism marketing professional working in the state of Georgia can apply for the scholarship to attend the three-year educational program, held on the campus of North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega. This year, classes will be held May 14-19. Read more about the scholarship, and complete the application today.
5. Explore Georgia reaches Instagram 100K milestone On March 2, Explore Georgia celebrated reaching 100,000 followers on Instagram! The achievement puts Explore Georgia among the top 10 state tourism accounts in the U.S. in terms of number of Instagram followers. To mark the occasion, this picture was posted, along with a giveaway for Explore Georgia photobooks featuring favorite fan photos and a celebration video. Thank you all for helping us reach this milestone! Here's to the next 100,000!
6. 2017 RVIC Conference in Woodstock April 26-28 Next month, tourism professionals across the state will take over Woodstock! Learn ways to expand your visitor center and take it to the next level at the Regional Visitor Information Center (RVIC) Conference April 26-28, 2017. One session highlight: Lights, Camera, Location: Your Community in Film. The Year of Georgia Film is the focus of Georgia Tourism this year. Has your community become part of the thriving film industry? Local camera ready liaison Videssa Ormsby will provide tips on how to get your community involved in film and how to best utilize and market your locations and resources to scouts and tourists. Visit georgiarvic.com to register and for the latest information on the conference.
7. GaCivilWar.org is being decommissioned As the sesquicentennial of the Civil War has passed, the GaCivilWar.org website dedicated to promoting the anniversary is being decommissioned. The content from the site is being incorporated into ExploreGeorgia.org and will be featured on a new Civil War Trip Ideas page. Please continue posting Civil War events and attractions to ExploreGeorgia.org and using the "Civil War" tags so visitors can find them on ExploreGeorgia.org. Thanks to all of our partners who participated in the sesquicentennial campaign!
8. Georgia Tourism staff spotlight: Kellie Lord-Zieba, Savannah Visitor Information Center Manager Kellie Lord-Zieba, manager at the Savannah Visitor Information Center, along with Coastal Georgia celebrated the opening of the new Visitor Information Center on Friday, March 10. The new center is an experience unlike any other, and she is looking forward to seeing the faces of the visitors as they enter the new facility. Walt Disney once said, "If you dream it you can do it," and she greatly appreciates all those that had the vision for the new center. Kellie hails from Maine but now lives in Richmond Hill with her husband, Ian, and daughters Addison and Avery. Send her a note of congratulations on her new work home at KLord-zieba@georgia.org, or better yet, stop by to say hello!
Mark your calendar for these upcoming tourism events
1. March 31: Georgia on My Mind Day - Valdosta VIC 2. April 20-23: Travel Media Marketplace, Cartersville 3. April 21: Georgia on My Mind Day - Sylvania VIC 4. April 26-28: RVIC Conference, Woodstock 5. May 5: Georgia on My Mind Day - St. Marys 6. May 7-13: National Travel and Tourism Week 7. May 14-19: Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College, Dahlonega

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