Not so long ago Atlanta underwent a rebranding. “Every Day is an Opening Day” was the new slogan. The $200 million Georgia Aquarium and other new attractions were opening, and neighborhoods were transforming. But like many destinations, the Great Recession reined in the momentum.
Although the slogan was retired after two years, the city that led in the South’s recovery after the Civil War and became the epitome of the New South continues with new openings, adding to its appeal.
“Over the past several years a number of boutique hotels have planted their flags in Atlanta, providing even more choices for meeting planners and attendees, and more than $1.6 billion in development will open in the next three years,” says Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales officer at the Atlanta CVB.
Atlanta is one of the most accessible cities in the world, according to Vaughan, with nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population within a two-hour flight and three interstates converging in the heart of the city. The city is becoming even more accessible with the opening this spring of a new international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“With increased flights and accessibility, it will provide an opportunity for meetings to grow international attendance,” Vaughan says.
Vaughan also points to the new Atlanta streetcar system that will soon begin construction. The first phase, expected to open next year, will connect convention corridor attractions such as the aquarium to east side attractions like the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial area.
Centennial Olympic Park, Vaughan explains, connects to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), the country’s fourth-largest convention center, with 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space and 10,000 hotel rooms within a one-mile radius, creating a compact convention district.
Adjacent to the aquarium is the World of Coca-Cola, which opened in 2007. They will be joined by two other major attractions that are planned for the city: the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, located on a site adjoining the World of Coca-Cola, and the College Football Hall of Fame, which is expected to open in 2013 and include a new entrance to GWCC. Both will have dedicated event space.
Major area hotels include the Omni Hotel at CNN Center adjacent to GWCC, the Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Sheraton Atlanta, Hyatt Regency Atlanta and Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is connected to AmericasMart, a top downtown trade and convention facility.
Hyatt Regency Atlanta recently completed a $65 million renovation, including enhancements to its 1,260 rooms, public areas and 29,000-square-foot ballroom. Additionally, the 150-room Marriott-managed Courtyard Atlanta Downtown opened in January last year in the historic Carnegie building. The property has 1,800 square feet of meeting space.
To the north of downtown and the convention corridor is Midtown, anchored by the historic Fox Theatre to the south and the Woodruff Arts Center in the north. Woodruff encompasses such institutions such as the Alliance Theater, the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Symphony.
Midtown is also home to Georgia Tech, which has two of metro Atlanta’s nine IACC-certified conferences centers. It also features the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum and the 180-acre Piedmont Park, home to the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
The 414-room Loews Atlanta, with 40,000 square feet of function space, opened in 2010 as part of the 12th & Midtown four-block, mixed-use project. The property is located in a busy retail and art-scene area dubbed the “Midtown Mile,” where the 304-room Renaissance Atlanta Midtown, with 10,600 square feet of meeting space, debuted last September, a rebranding of the Hotel Palomar Atlanta-Midtown.
Farther north is the affluent neighborhood of Buckhead. Home to the Atlanta History Center, the area has 5,000-plus hotel rooms and such upscale shopping as Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza, where a $12 million indoor Legoland Discovery Center is set to open in late April.
Major hotels include The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, the JW Marriott Hotel Buckhead, the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, St. Regis Atlanta, The Westin Buckhead Atlanta and the InterContinental Buckhead.
In January, the 371-room JW Marriott wrapped up an $11 million renovation that included room enhancements and increasing meeting space by 2,300 square feet for a total of more than 21,000 square feet. Farther north, the 341-room Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center recently completed a $23 million renovation that included rooms, public areas and an additional 3,400 square feet of meeting space for a total of 18,400 square feet.
Outlying Options
Located 10 miles south of downtown is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. This spring it will unveil the long-awaited Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal, which will include a new 12-gate concourse connected to the existing 28 international gates.
Nearby, the Georgia International Conference Center (GICC) offers 400,000 square feet of function space. Georgia’s second-largest convention center is within a two-mile radius of over 8,000 hotel rooms, including the 403-room Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway headquarters hotel, which opened in 2010.
Peachtree City, a master-planned community 30 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta with more than 90 miles of golf cart paths, has the slogan, “Discover Life at 15 Miles Per Hour.”
“With big-city amenities, Peachtree City was designed to be both a highly desirable corporate meeting destination and a little slice of residential heaven,” says Kim Trawick, sales and marketing coordinator for the Peachtree City CVB.
Major meetings properties include the 250-room Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center, with 30,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 233-room Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree, with 61,000 square feet of meeting space.
In Northwest Atlanta, Cobb County underwent a rebranding in November. Sporting the new slogan “Atlanta’s Sweet Spot,” the CVB became Cobb Travel & Tourism with a new logo, new promotional video and new website address, www.travelcobb.org.
“Our new name, look and website make it easier for consumers and meeting planners to understand exactly who we are and the services we provide,” says Holly Bass, president and CEO of Cobb Travel & Tourism.
With 320,000 square feet of event space, the Cobb Galleria Centre has been undergoing renovations that will be completed by June. The center, which is connected to the Renaissance Waverly, is located in the 88-acre Galleria complex, which includes Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and Galleria Specialty Shops.
The county also encompasses Marietta, the county seat, home to the Gone with the Wind Museum, and the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center, with golf and 25,000 square feet of meeting space.
Duluth, located in Gwinnett County, 26 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, boasts the Gwinnett Center and Arena, featuring a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 21,600-square-foot ballroom and a 700-seat performing arts center. Its 13,000-seat arena is home to the Gwinnett Gladiators minor-league hockey team. Several hotels are within about a mile.
In December, the center and Gwinnett CVB issued a request for proposal for a center headquarters hotel, a process the two entities originally began in 2007 before the economy took a dive, according to Preston Williams, CEO of the CVB and the center.
“There was a tremendous amount of interest. Having a headquarters hotel is really one of the big missing pieces of the puzzle for Gwinnett’s hospitality industry,” he says.
Last May, Gwinnett Center added to its inventory, signing a two-year agreement to handle facility rental bookings and operations management for the adjacent Hudgens Center for the Arts, which includes a 2,200-square-foot grand hall.
Gwinnett County is also home to Lake Lanier Islands Resort near Buford. The resort’s centerpiece is the Legacy Lodge & Conference Center, featuring 287 guest rooms, lake houses, 4,500-square-foot villas and 23,000 square feet of IACC-certified meeting space. The resort also features the new Legacy on Lanier Golf Club.
Another meetings option is the 276-suite Chateau Elan Winery, Resort and Conference Center at Braselton, which in October completed a $3 million renovation to the Spa at Chateau Elan.
DeKalb County promotes itself with the tagline, “Home of Georgia’s Number One Attraction.” That would be the five-square-mile Stone Mountain Park, an 825-foot high granite outcropping adorned with carvings of Confederate leaders, just 16 miles east of downtown Atlanta.
Park attractions include a 300-passenger riverboat, a scenic railroad, a Ride the Ducks tour, an 18-hole mini golf course and a seasonal snow park. Slated to open in March is Geyser Towers, a climbing attraction featuring rope bridges and net tunnels.
Marriott operates Stone Mountain’s 311-room Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort, which has 53,000 square feet of meeting space and recently completed a $10 million renovation.
In downtown Decatur, the county seat, the former 184-room Holiday Inn Decatur Hotel and Conference Center, with 15,000 square feet of meeting space, was about to reopen at press time as a Courtyard by Marriott following a renovation. Noble Investment Group acquired it last May.
The county is also home to Emory University and its IACC-certified Emory Conference Center Hotel.
Tony Bartlett has been writing about the travel industry for more than 20 years.
