Tourism in review [Sept. 2002]

Tourism

September '02 in review . . .

Volume 7 September

... September 11 is a date that will stick in the minds of all Americans for years to come. This month was a time to reflect and show respect for the families and friends who lost loved ones during the tragedy one-year ago. The travel industry was affected by the event but not deterred. On 9/11, a moment of silence was observed in Atlanta and many tributes were paid throughout the State. Visitor Information Centers flew their flags at half-mast to show respect for the families who suffered during the national tragedy.
... According to the latest Smith Travel Report statistics, for the first time since the beginning of the economic downturn and September 11, the entire State showed growth in hotel room revenue. For July, the State was up 5.82% from July 2001. The largest percentage of growth was in the Southern Rivers region with a 14.8% increase from July 2001. They were followed closely by the Historic South region with a 12.81% increase. Atlanta showed a 2.83% increase from July 2001.
... Statewide tourism coverage for July 2001 through June 2002 generated a total of 338,686,436 impressions, valued at $4,118,010 in advertising equivalency. Tourism coverage accounts for approximately 66 percent of all coverage for GDITT. Tourism initiatives generated solely from the Atlanta office and State public relations firm for the same time period produced 169,922,215 impressions, worth approximately $1,119,663 in advertising equivalency.
... Georgia was featured in several editorials in the St. Petersburg Times Sunday Travel Section in June, resulting in free publicity worth approximately $180,000 in advertising equivalency. A full-page color print advertisement in the Sunday paper runs $29,126 per page and black and white is $26,316 per page. The travel articles highlighted Columbus, Macon, Atlanta, Augusta, Brunswick and Savannah. Marietta captures the spotlight in a two-page article in the October issue of Southern Living Magazine. The article is entitled Small-town Escape, Frankly, my dear, it's about time you visited Marietta, Georgia. Not only does Georgia command a presence in print, but the State is also featured on film. The newly released motion picture Sweet Home Alabama, which opened in theaters nationwide Sept. 27, was not shot in Alabama at all. The Touchstone Pictures' movie was filmed in Crawfordville, Rome, Covington, Conyers, Peachtree City and Atlanta, Georgia.
... Editors from Essence Magazine, based in New York traveled to Savannah on Sept. 13 and spent two days gathering information for a multi page layout in the national publication, which will run April 2003. They also plan to run a follow-up story on Savannah during the publication's holiday edition. The editor's trip was a result from contacts made by GDITT during a July New York media trip, in which the purpose was to help generate publicity for the State.

WWW.GEORGIAONMYMIND.ORG

Tourism

September '02 in review . . .

Volume 7 September

... Georgia tourists provide $250 million a year for improvements to the State's highway system. These dollars are from the tourist portion of the State and federal gas tax collections. Georgia receives over $1 billion in allocations from the federal highway trust and collects $600 million directly from the State highway tax. Tourist pump $1.21 billion gallons of gas annually or 3.3 million gallons of gas a day along Georgia's roadways.
... During the 2002 Southeast Tourism Society Annual Fall meeting and Federal/ State Summit for Travel and Tourism, Sept. 6 in Louisville, KY, STS and Arthur Formmer's Budget Travel presented the Shining Example Awards to the "best of the best" in travel and tourism in the Southeast United States. - The Cobb County Convention & Visitors Bureau was named CVB of the Year for Category 1. Judged by industry peers, the Cobb Bureau ranks first in STS membership, which is composed of CVBs from 11 Southern states. (photo) - The Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism was presented the Visual Excellence Video award for the tourism division's commercial featuring a female runner traveling through the different tourism travel regions of Georgia. - Atlanta Motor Speedway NAPA 500 Weekend in Hampton was voted Festival of the Year (Attendance 100,000). STS is the largest membership organization promoting travel to the Southeast.
... Six Georgia Festivals have been named to the Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society. The festivals include: The Georgia National Fair in Perry (Oct. 4-13), Cotton Pickin' Fair in Gay (Oct. 5-6), Big Pig Jig in Vienna (Oct. 17-19), Christmas in Athens (Nov. 1-Dec. 31), Christmas in Roswell (Dec. 1-31), and Mountain Country Christmas in Hiawassee/Young Harris (Dec. 6-8).
... The Georgia Association of Convention and Visitor's Bureaus Annual Convention was held in Statesboro this month. GDITT tourism representatives presented an update to the group on what the State is doing to promote domestic tourism and the international tourism product. CVB representatives were given information on tourism marketing, sales, public relations, legislative action and tourism's economic impact.
... A panel of industry professionals met on September 9 to review a total of 83 Tourism Marketing Co-Op Program applications and to allocate the $500,000 designated to fund projects on the local level. Application requests totaled $1.5 million, triple the allotted funds; however, the panel was able to award funding to 40 projects. The projects, such as advertising, special events, rack cards and web site enhancements, cover each region of the State, with 21 occurring in Tier One and Two communities. Announcement of Co-op awards will be made the first week of October.
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Tourism

September '02 in review . . .

Volume 7 September

... The Irish looked to Georgia tourism for a bit of advice during a recent visit to GDITT. A group of 12 Irish tourism delegates met with tourism staff members to discuss Georgia's marketing strategies. Each year the population of Ireland, approximately 3 million, doubles due to an influx of tourists. The delegates, who also visited Boston, were interested in advice on setting up communication networks and the growth experienced by Atlanta during and after the 1996 Olympics.
... Chuck Jones the Director of the Athens / Clark County CVB is traveling abroad in the Ukraine with University of Georgia on a trip to help the Ukraine Government with tourism development. Jones left on September 22 and will return Oct. 3. The trip is part of the U.S.-Ukraine Community Partnerships for Local Government Training and Education Project, initiated in 1997 as a threeyear, USAID-funded project providing public administration education and training to local governments in Ukraine.
... The Georgia Visitor Centers have created a "Staff Development Program." The announcement of the new program was made during the annual Visitor Center Managers' Meeting, hosted by the DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The purpose of establishing the staff development program is to provide support, guidance, motivation, accountability, and uniformity of procedures in the operation of the Visitor Centers. Hilda Seymore, Assistant Manager for the Valdosta Center, will head up this new initiative.
... Other topics of discussion during the September VIC managers' meeting included National Tourism Week, See Georgia First Holiday Shows and the upcoming AAA Sales Blitz. In addition to the Peach award, special recognition awards were presented to Visitor Center Managers who excelled in the areas of Community Development, Operations Management, and New Marketing Initiative. During their meeting, the VIC managers also had the opportunity to visit Stone Mountain's new family attraction Crossroads, dine at Miss Katy's and the Sycamore Grill in the Stone Mountain Village, and tour the Fernbank Science Museum.
... Information from the conversion study of the Georgia Getaways Campaign will be released in October or early November. The conversion study will track the economic impact of the $1 million recovery campaign fund.

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