Explore Canton representatives told Canton’s mayor and council on July 3 that the city’s tourism marketing program has seen substantial year‑over‑year growth in web traffic, social reach and event attendance and outlined planned print and billboard campaigns and other promotions.

The presentation by Explore Canton staff member Jackie (last name not specified in the meeting transcript) summarized two years of website and social‑media metrics, a plan for a printed visitor guide and rack cards, three new billboards, partnerships with LakePoint Sports and other local initiatives. “Year over year… the first year we had 25,000 users. Since then, we have 86,000 users now,” Jackie said, reporting a 244% increase in users and a rise in Google impressions to about 2,500,000 from 700,000 the prior year.

Explore Canton framed the gains as the result of improved search engine recognition, expanded community event listings and more active social engagement. The presentation said the group now averages about 7,200 website users per month and described social growth from roughly 1,600 Facebook followers in year one to about 3,900, with impressions rising from about 74,000 to 615,000. Jackie told council the organization uses an event submission feature on the website and partners with local businesses and event organizers to populate its calendar.

Board chair Dana Cox described upcoming print and out‑of‑home work: a 5x7 visitor’s guide to be printed in a first run of 5,000 copies, rack cards with QR codes linking to the digital guide, and a one‑year contract for three billboards placed on major approaches to Canton. Cox said the three billboards were projected to generate “almost a million impressions a week between the 3 locations.” She also described a LakePoint Sports shipping‑container kiosk that will display Canton rack cards and host arcade games to engage visiting families.

Explore Canton presented third‑party sources and methods used to estimate visitor impacts. The presentation cited Explore Georgia and Symphony Economics (using U.S. Census, STR and Georgia Department of Revenue inputs) for county‑level visitor spending figures and Placer.ai for event attendance and hotel‑stay estimates. Using those sources, the presenters summarized Cherokee County visitor spending and hotel‑motel tax trends and said Explore Canton‑sponsored events drew an estimated 65,000 visitors this year based on Placer.ai data.

Councilors and staff praised the reports and noted city budget support for regional tourism efforts. Mayor (name not specified in the transcript) thanked the group and observed that daytime visitors spend money without placing long‑term demand on city services. Explore Canton said it will continue to build local audience engagement while expanding paid regional ads and exploring influencer and streaming ad opportunities.

Explore Canton said it will return with printed materials and further updates as projects—visitor’s guide, billboards, rack cards and a downtown kiosk—move toward implementation.