Georgia

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Reaching from Appalachia, with its lakes and mountains, through the Piedmont and heartland to the Atlantic Coast beaches, Georgia delivers a range of settings for meetings, not to mention an impressive collection of new and improved venues and attractions.

The Peach State celebrated its 275th birthday in February, commemorating the day in 1733 when Gen. George Oglethorpe went ashore on the Savannah River and founded a city and the last of the original 13 colonies. Communities sprang up, many on rivers, and having left the industrial age behind, those riverfront cities now boast revitalized waterfronts.

Additional convention space and new hotel rooms have been an integral part of 21st century renewal in Georgia. Cities that have enhanced their offerings are reaping the rewards, while others are pushing to catch up, unveiling new facilities and attractions and eagerly awaiting groundbreakings.

Metro Atlanta

Long described as the “Capital of the New South,” Atlanta has seen a new word catch on in recent years—“Hotlanta.” And not without reason. Georgia’s fast-growing, sprawling capital city now has a metro area that accounts for 5.1 million of the 8.1 million people in the ninth most populous state.

Last October, the city unveiled a new campaign theme, “City Lights, Southern Nights,” replacing the previous tagline, “Every Day Is an Opening Day,” that ran for two years when a slew of new attractions were debuting.

Most notable are the stunning newcomers filling areas around the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), the city’s primary convention venue. The list includes the new World of Coca-Coca, unveiled in May 2007 on 20 acres alongside the $200 million Georgia Aquarium, which opened in November 2005.

As part of a $13 million expansion, the aquarium opened a 7,000-square-foot prefunction area for its 16,400-square-foot ballroom last October.

“We’re excited about our enhanced product. We’ve always had great hotels, convention space and accessibility, but our attractions have given us so much added value as a destination,” says Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer at the Atlanta CVB.

What had also been missing, he explains, were the smaller boutique hotels. They are emerging, some in restored historical buildings. ACVB estimates that 14 new hotels, many boutiques, could come into the market by 2010.

The GWCC has 3.9 million square feet of space and is surrounded by facilities such as the adjacent CNN Center and Omni hotel, the 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Dome and Philips Arena to the south, and the new aquarium and World of Coca-Cola to the north. To the east is downtown, with 16,000 hotel rooms.

Among the major meetings hotels is the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, which expects to complete a $138 million multiyear makeover in July. The project has included a renovation of its 1,663 guest units and existing meeting space, as well as additional meeting facilities. By this summer, a new 25,000-square-foot ballroom and 6,000-square-foot health club and spa will be completed.

The downtown area also boasts AmericasMart, Atlanta’s wholesale mart with 6.2 million square feet of exhibition space. The facility is building another 1.5 million square feet of space. Included is a two-story ballroom and event facility totaling 70,000 square feet.

Last year, Atlanta hosted 15 more citywide events and 39,315 more room nights than in 2006, and booked many repeat events for future years.

Vaughan says 2008 got off to a good start.

“Being ahead of the game at the beginning of the cycle is a reflection of the destination’s appeal and hard work of our sales team,” he says. “We don’t have to play catch-up to meet or exceed our year-end sales goals.”

He points to the 127-room Ellis Hotel, a $26 million conversion of a historic downtown building that at one time was the Winecoff Hotel, as an example of the new developments taking shape in town.

“Before, all visitors saw was an empty old building,” Vaughan says. “Now it’s playing a big role in downtown revitalization, adding activity to this stretch of Peachtree Street and preserving a piece of Atlanta’s history on Atlanta’s most historic street.”

Also opened last fall was the new 102-suite Twelve Hotel & Residences Centennial Park, which, like the Ellis Hotel, has meeting space.

It is the second Twelve property for Novare Group Holdings; the 102-room Twelve Atlantic Station, featuring a 6,000-square-foot ballroom, opened in 2006 as part of Midtown’s Atlantic Station, a residential, office, retail, and entertainment project built on a former sprawling steel mill site.

A new 242-room Hilton Garden Inn with 9,000 square feet of meeting space was about to open near the Georgia Aquarium, part of another mixed-use project.

Three Starwood W hotels are opening this year. At press time, the 466-room W Atlanta Midtown, with 36,000 square feet of meeting space, was scheduled to open March 25. The property is a $96 million conversion of the former Sheraton Midtown Atlanta at Colony Square. The 291-room W Atlanta Buckhead, a former Crowne Plaza on Lenox Road, is set to debut Oct. 1, and the 237-room W Atlanta Downtown, part of the Allen Plaza mixed-use project, is slated to open Dec. 1.

The Mansion on Peachtree, A Rosewood Hotel, opens in Buckhead in May. The 42-story luxury property will include 127 rooms and suites, six meeting rooms hosting up to 200 people and a spa.

A second Hotel Indigo will be unveiled in the historic Carnegie building on Ellis Street in December. The first Indigo—and the first of Atlanta’s new boutique properties—opened in fall 2004 on Peachtree in Midtown across from the historic Fox Theater.

Expected to open next year are the Palomar Hotel on the Georgia Tech Campus and a Hilton in Buckhead. Among the hotel openings slated for 2010 are a Hard Rock in downtown Atlanta; a Mandarin Oriental and a Loews in Midtown; and a 1 Hotel, a Baccarat and a St. Regis in Buckhead.

North of downtown, Midtown’s western part is home to Georgia Tech’s 4-year-old Technology Square at Georgia Tech, with two IACC-certified meeting facilities: the 252-room Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, featuring 21,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Georgia Tech Global Learning and Conference Center, offering 32,000 square feet of function space. To the north is Atlantic Station.

To the east, Midtown has the Woodruff Arts Center, with institutions such as the Alliance Theater and the High Museum of Art, which completed a $130 million expansion in 2005. This year, it expects to break ground on a new $300 million home for the Atlanta Symphony.

Farther north, stylish and upscale Buckhead has 5,000 hotel rooms and malls such as Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza. Hotels include a Ritz-Carlton, a JW Marriott, a Westin, and an InterContinental. Buckhead is also home to the Atlanta History Center, which opened the $10 million Centennial Olympics Games Museum in July 2006.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, 10 miles south of downtown, has been undergoing $5.4 billion in improvements, which include a new international terminal and a consolidated rental car facility opening in 2010.

Close by, the 4-year-old, 400,000- square-foot Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) boasts a 150,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom and 32 meeting rooms.

A 400-room connected headquarters Marriott and a 150-room Springhill Suites are being built as part of a 1.1 million-square-foot office and retail project. They are scheduled to open by spring 2010 when a new automated people mover will also debut, transporting airport passengers to GICC and the new car rental facility.

Peachtree City farther south provides two IACC-certified properties: the 255-room Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center, with 26,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 233-room Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree, with 67 meeting rooms. Dolce took over management of the property, formerly Aberdeen Woods, in November and began a multimillion-dollar renovation.

Ten miles northwest of downtown Atlanta in Cobb County is another meetings and conventions hub. Amid its shopping mall, Cobb Galleria Centre offers 144,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 20,000-square-foot ballroom. Connected to it is the Renaissance Waverly, which has 60,000 square feet of meeting space and completed an $8 million renovation last year.

Making the destination even more appealing is the adjacent $145 million Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, unveiled last September. The new home of the Atlanta Ballet and the Atlanta Opera has full catering services and includes the 2,750-seat John A. Williams Theatre and a 10,000-square-foot ballroom.

The Cobb County CVB, which covers an area of 13,000 guest rooms, launched a new website in January with an enhanced meeting planner section.

County attractions include Six Flags over Georgia, the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Marietta, Cobb County’s seat, was selected as the state’s “Best Downtown or Town Square” by Georgia magazine readers in its 2007 Readers Choice Awards.

The 200-room Marietta Conference Center and Resort, with golfing and more than 20,000 square feet of IACC-certified meeting space, is within walking distance of downtown.

Roughly 20 minutes north of downtown Atlanta in Gwinnet County, Gwinnet Center is another big meetings draw. Home to the Gladiators minor-league hockey team, the center is equipped with a 700-seat performing arts center, a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 21,600-square-foot ballroom, 22 meeting rooms, and a 13,000-seat arena.

DeKalb County, with more than 12,000 hotel rooms, has its seat in Decatur and contains a portion of the city of Atlanta. It is home to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, a popular off-site venue, and Emory University’s IACC-certified Emory Conference Center Hotel, with 23,000 square feet of conference space.

Dekalb County also encompasses the state’s most visited attraction, the 3,200-acre Stone Mountain Park, with its giant granite monolith and theme attractions, as well as the 336-room Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort, with 32,000 square feet of meeting space.

North Georgia Mountains

A recreational area of mountains and lakes awaits groups in the Appalachians north of Atlanta.

The focal point of the popular 1,100-acre Lake Sidney Lanier area is the 216-room Emerald Pointe Resort, 45 minutes from downtown Atlanta. With an IACC-certified, 21,000-square-foot conference facility, 18 holes of golf and water activities, it is nearing completion of a $10 million renovation.

Bordering the lake, Gainesville has a historic downtown and a multipurpose facility, the Georgia Mountains Center, which can seat up to 4,000 people.

Dalton, 30 miles from Chattanooga, Tenn., is the “Carpet Capital of the World,” claiming that more than 90 percent of the world’s functional carpet is produced within a 65-mile radius of the city.

Dalton’s Northwest Trade and Convention Center has 143,500 square feet of available space. Last year, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts was chosen to develop a 220-room Embassy Suites headquarters hotel. Construction is expected to begin this year.

Georgia’s top-producing winery, Chateau Elan Winery and Resort, located 40 minutes northeast of Atlanta in Braselton, features a 277-room hotel, four golf courses, a spa, and a 25,000-square-foot, IACC-certified conference center. Last August it added a 1,600-square-foot culinary studio and cooking school.

Three of seven state park lodges that offer conference facilities are in the North Georgia Mountains: the Lodge at Amicalola Falls State Park, the Lodge at Red Top Mountain State Park and the Unicoi State Park Lodge.

Other notable meetings options with abundant recreational and team-building activities are the 70-suite Barnsley Gardens Resort, with 5,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 134-room Brasstown Valley Resort, with 14,000 square feet.

Southern Rivers

The Southern Rivers Region is home to presidential attractions such as the Little White House Historic Site and Museum at Warm Springs, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s retreat and the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site at Plains.

It is also renowned for the 13,000-acre Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain. Along with golf, boating and nature discovery centers, it has more than 500 accommodation units and 100,000 square feet of meeting space, and in late 2006 unveiled its 150-room Lodge & Spa.

Major cities in the region include Columbus, Albany and Valdosta.

Located on Chattahoochee River, Columbus is Georgia’s third-largest city.

A conversion of a historical ironworks, its primary venue is the riverfront Columbus Convention and Trade Center, which doubled in size in 2005 and offers 178,000 square feet of space. Other venues include the Columbus Civic Center and the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.

“The expansion has given us more flexibility and has allowed us to go after larger and multiple pieces of business,” says Peter Bowden, president and CEO at the Columbus CVB. “Our comfort level was a group of 500 people; now it is 1,000 to 1,500.”

He says new hotel rooms and the opening of Columbus State University’s high-tech Cunningham Conference Center, which includes a 5,400-square-foot banquet facility, have also helped in attracting business.

Hotel rooms, he notes, have doubled to almost 4,000 rooms in a decade. Those opened within the last year include a Microtel, a Staybridge Suites, a Country Inn & Suites, a Wyndham Garden, and a Homewood Suites, most in North Columbus.

Major attractions include the Port Columbus National Civil War Naval Museum, the Columbus Museum of Art and the Coca-Cola Space Science Center.

Columbus is home to the Infantry’s Fort Benning. Under construction on a 200-acre site between the city and military base is a new $85 million National Infantry Museum. Slated to open next year, it will include a 150,000-square-foot museum, a memorial walk of honor and a 3-D IMAX Theater.

With continued rejuvenation, Albany, set along the Flint River, has also increased its appeal for planners.

The Albany Civic Center got a boost with the opening of a 122-room Hilton Garden Inn across from the center in 2005. With 13,000 square feet of meeting space, it is the city’s largest meetings hotel. The civic center has a 10,000-seat arena; 46,000 square feet of exhibit space and 6,000 square feet of meeting space.

Nearby is the city’s $30 million Flint RiverQuarium, opened in 2004 and part of its waterfront revitalization. Another part of the plan, the $1.5 million Ray Charles Plaza (the musician was born in Albany) recently opened across from the Hilton Garden Inn.

Sara Underwood, vice president of the Albany CVB, says several new attractions are opening this summer and fall, including an aviary at RiverQuarium; a planetarium at the Thronateeska Heritage Museum; and a 12,300-square foot expansion at the Civil Rights Movement Museum.

The city’s RiverWalk and park continue to expand, and this month the CVB and visitor center will move to a restored historic building, the Bridge House.

Valdosta, situated four hours from both Atlanta and Orlando, has the 47,000-square-foot Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center.

Another notable meetings option is the 88-unit Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club at Georgia Memorial Veterans State Park near Cordele. The property has 10,000 square feet of conference space.

Historic South

Augusta, Athens and Macon are the three major cities in Georgia’s Historic South region.

Augusta, the “Garden City of the South,” has a 10-block promenade along the Savannah River with parks, museums and hotels as its major meetings focal point.

“As Georgia’s second-largest city we offer big-city conveniences with small-town charm—and free parking,” says Peggy Seigler, vice president of sales at the Augusta CVB.

Close to the promenade is the city’s top meetings venue, the 372-room Augusta Marriott Hotel and Suites, with 45,000 square feet of city-owned meeting space operated as part of the Marriott.

The city hopes to break ground before year’s end on a new trade, exhibit and event center, approved by voters in 2005. With 40,000 square feet of space, it is expected to open in late 2010 as an extension of the Marriott.

“It will give us a competitive edge and will put us on a different playing field,” Seigler says, adding that the city currently has 6,000 hotel rooms and an average group size of 250 to 350, although it has hosted groups of 3,000 people.

The city also has the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, which includes a 23,000-square-foot arena and a 2,690-seat theater.

At press time, the new Hilton Garden Inn Augusta, with 3,000 square feet of meeting space, was readying to open before April 1, and a Staybridge Suites and a Comfort Suites were expected to open about the same time.

The properties were being unveiled before the prestigious Masters tournament, which is held at the Augusta National Golf Club each April and fills the town. Before last year’s event, the city’s second-largest meetings hotel, the former 179-room Augusta Towers, with 12,000 square feet of meeting space, was rebranded a Doubletree following a $7 million renovation.

Just below the Blue Ridge foothills is Athens, the state’s fifth-largest city, home to the University of Georgia, the recipient of America’s first state college charter in 1785.

Last June, the Athens CVB unveiled its new brand, “Athens: Life Unleashed.” According to the bureau, research showed that customers repeatedly described Athens as youthful, energetic, creative, eclectic, and vibrant, which distinguishes it from other cities.

Known as the “Classic City,” Athens gave birth to music groups such as the B-52s, R.E.M. and Widespread Panic. Today, its downtown boasts art galleries, boutique shops and 50-plus restaurants.

Expanded by 15,000 square feet in 2004 and 2005, its major group venue, the Classic Center, delivers more than 70,000 square feet of meeting space. A 185-room Hilton Garden Inn opened across from the facility in 2006, bringing the total number of guest rooms within walking distance to more than 1,100.

Chuck Jones, director of the Athens CVB, says the expansion and the Hilton Garden Inn have enabled the CVB and the Classic Center to break bookings records.

“We’re on track for our most successful fiscal year ever in convention bookings and we’re also expecting our most productive year in terms of actualized Classic Center and non-Classic Center room nights,” he says.

Paul Cramer, executive director of the Classic Center, adds that the average convention size has increased and a study has been commissioned to explore the possibility of further expanding.

Jones says new hotels will make the destination even more appealing.

A 100-room Hotel Indigo is expected to open in 2009 within walking distance of the Classic Center. An 81-room Country Inn & Suites with meeting space debuted in February and a Sleep Inn will open later this year near Georgia Square Mall.

A city that boasts major attractions such as the State Botanical Gardens and the Georgia Museum of Art also has new diversions. Cine, a two-screen arthouse cinema available for events, opened last year, and the Terrapin Brewery opened for tours in February.

Known as Southern Rock’s birthplace and for such attractions as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, Macon is the “Song and Soul of the South” and Georgia’s sixth-largest city.

“We’re in the center of the state so we’re a good location, especially for state associations, and we’re very economical,” says Beth Robinson, convention sales manager at the Macon CVB.

Across the Ocmulgee River from its historic downtown is its major convention venue, the Macon Centreplex Coliseum.

Featuring the Wilson Convention Center, highlights include a 10,242-seat auditorium, 86,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 9,100-square-foot ballroom.

Within walking distance is the 298-room Ramada Plaza. With 16,000 square feet of meeting space, it is the largest meetings hotel in a city with 4,500 hotel rooms.

This spring work is expected to start on a long-awaited headquarters hotel at the Macon Centreplex Coliseim. The city-financed, 225-room Macon Marriott City Center Hotel, slated to open in fall 2009, will have 4,000 square feet of meeting space.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Robinson says. “There are many groups that won’t come here until the headquarters hotel is open. We have a long list of meetings we can go after.”

New area hotels have been opening, including the Hilton Garden Inn-Mercer University, with 1,400 square feet of meeting space, and the Hampton Inn & Suites I-75 North. Two Value Place properties and a Microtel will open this spring.

Macon’s newest major attraction is a 450,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops, which debuted in October 2006. Meanwhile, in North Macon off Interstate 75, the first phase of the Shoppes at River Crossing, a 750,000-square-foot upscale center, was set to open March 19 at press time.

Between Atlanta and Augusta is The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee, boasting a AAA Five Diamond Award for the second consecutive year, 251 rooms and more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space. Reynolds Plantation opened its fifth golf course, The Creek Club, last June.

Coastal Georgia

Georgia’s Atlantic Coast encompasses the tourist magnets of Brunswick and the Golden Isles, and Savannah.

Brunswick and the Golden Isles is a region encompassing the port city of Brunswick, with its Victorian downtown, and four islands: Sea Island, Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, and Little St. Simons Island.

The region provides beaches, wildlife refuges and marshes, almost 8,000 hotel rooms, more than 240,000 square feet of meeting space, and activities that range from kayaking, scuba and sailing to golfing on 16 area courses.

According to Bill Tipton, executive director at the Brunswick and the Golden Isles CVB, business is faring well.

“More and more people are discovering that we offer all the amenities travelers expect— beaches, golf, historic sites, recreational activities, shopping—without the traffic, congestion and hassles of larger, more well-known seaside resorts,” he says.

Earlier this year, the CVB unveiled a new website, www.comecoastawhile.com which includes a meeting facilities guide.

Sea Island boasts the celebrated Cloister Hotel, celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. Site of the 2004 G8 Summit, Sea Island has continued to expand, opening a 165,000-square-foot beach club last July. Earlier it unveiled a 65,000-square-foot spa, and in April 2006 debuted a new Cloister main building that includes 17,000 square feet of meeting space.

Little St. Simons, accessible only via boat from St. Simons, is a private barrier island that is ideal for upscale corporate retreats.

St. Simons’ meetings-ready choices include the King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort, with 6,200 square feet of meeting space, and the Sea Palms Golf and Tennis Resort, with 7,500 square feet of function space.

Its focal point is a village that includes the St. Simons Lighthouse, with a museum and maritime center. In April, the Coastal Georgia Historical Society will unveil the 10,000-square-foot A.W. Jones Heritage Center, which will include exhibits and event space within walking distance of five resort hotels.

On Jekyll Island, planners can choose from 10 hotels with meeting space, including the 157-room Jekyll Island Club Hotel, which includes a 240-acre Historic Landmark District.

For larger groups there is the beachfront Jekyll Island Convention Center, the isles’ only convention center, which has 55,000 square feet of space available.

Last September, the Jekyll Island Authority, which manages the state-owned island, chose Greensboro, Ga.-based Linger Longer Communities (developer of Reynolds Plantation) as its partner in redeveloping part of the island. Plans call for a new town center, three new hotels and a new convention center in an area that includes the current convention center and a shopping village.

Eighty miles north of Brunswick is Savannah, Georgia’s oldest and fourth-largest city. “Savannah, Est. 1733” is the destination’s branding initiative launched in 2006.

A 2.5-square-mile historic district, which preserves 21 of its original squares, is the epicenter for tourism, chock full of nightlife, restaurants, hotels and inns, historic buildings, and museums.

Although Savannah’s 2007 visitor numbers are not finalized, the number is expected to approach 7 million and be a record.

According to Joe Marinelli, president of the Savannah Area CVB, the city is enjoying “tremendous” growth in international visitors.

Last year, the CVB booked 21 future citywide conventions, up from 16 in 2006. Hotel meetings and convention bookings also rose.

“Savannah is a great walking city. It’s easily accessible. We have the beach experience with Tybee Island 16 miles from downtown,” Marinelli says. “Planners have always seen Savannah as a good location for board meetings and the like, but it is also the ideal location for a medium to large group looking for a unique destination.”

Across the Savannah River from the historic district are the 330,000-square-foot Savannah International Trade and Convention Center and the adjacent Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort.

In addition to the Westin, the historic district side of the river has three convention hotels: the Hyatt Regency Savannah, the Hilton Savannah DeSoto and the Savannah Marriott Riverfront. Together, the four hotels offer 1,383 guest rooms and more than 100,000 square feet of function space.

The CVB, together with the convention center and four hotels, has the Savannah Accord, an incentive program that offers complimentary ground and ferry transportation between the hotels and the convention center for meeting groups.

Two hotels opened in the historic district last year, each with more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space: a 127-room Four Points by Sheraton and a Holiday Inn Express. And a 97-room Cambria Suites with more than 1,000 square feet of meeting space will open this month near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.

For More Info

Albany CVB 229.434.8700 www.albanyga.com