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Visit Milledgeville reports record tourism numbers, says downtown needs 100+ hotel rooms
Summary
Rebecca Snyder, executive director of Visit Milledgeville, told the council the county saw more than 1,000,000 visitors and $84.9 million in economic impact in the last year and presented a consultant recommendation that the community needs more than 100 additional hotel rooms, particularly downtown.
Rebecca Snyder, executive director of Visit Milledgeville, delivered the tourism office’s annual update and told the City Council that the region received more than 1,000,000 visitors in the last year, producing about $84,900,000 in economic impact and supporting roughly 900 jobs in the tourism sector.
Snyder summarized performance metrics: hotel-motel tax revenue is at an all-time high, short-term vacation rentals countywide number roughly 80 with 10–15 inside city limits, and room revenue from short-term rentals is about $2.2 million annually. She said a market study the office commissioned recommended adding more than 100 upscale hotel rooms downtown and that the tourism office would actively support lodging development in 2025.
Snyder said the office invested $20,000 in sports-tourism guarantees to secure blocks of rooms; that seed produced more than $300,000 in local economic impact from events such as fishing tournaments and cycling rides. She also described new marketing initiatives — a food-photography program for local restaurants, the office’s first video campaign (77,000 views on YouTube), and an online booking tool (Ripe) that helps convert online interest into overnight bookings.
Snyder closed by noting partnerships with local businesses, film scouts visiting the community, trolley-program reinvestments, and continued emphasis on conversion and sports-tourism strategy development for 2025.
