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Visit Perry reports steady tourism gains, new direct‑booking tool and statewide recognition
Summary
Ana Turpin of Visit Perry told the council RevPAR has increased about 50% over the past decade, Visit Perry distributed over 5,000 destination guides in Q1, won a 2026 Tourism Innovator Award for a hospitality-training program and plans a RIPE booking integration and website overhaul to boost local hotel bookings.
Ana Turpin, representing the Perry Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Perry), updated the council on tourism performance, marketing efforts and planned technical improvements aimed at keeping visitor dollars in Perry.
Turpin said RevPAR (revenue per available room) has generally risen over the last 10 years — growth punctured only by a 2020 dip — and overall RevPAR is about 50% higher than in 2015. She noted an increase in year‑over‑year occupancy and that the typical visitor now stays just over three nights on average. The CVB is funded entirely by hotel‑motel tax revenues, Turpin said.
Recent accomplishments Turpin cited included distributing more than 5,000 destination guides in the first quarter of the year and securing earned media placements for local restaurants. Visit Perry received the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau’s 2026 Tourism Innovator Award for its We Speak Perry hospitality training program. Turpin said the bureau will attend the Georgia Media Marketplace to pitch stories and expects to expand outreach across the Southeast.
Turpin described two near‑term technical projects: a RIPE integration that will allow visitors to book hotels directly from visitperry.com at no cost to hotel partners, and a full website restructuring intended for rollout by summer. She also said Visit Perry and the city are formalizing a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) agreement that aligns hotel‑motel tax allocations with state law (37.5% general purpose, 18.75% tourism product development, 43.75% tourism/ trade shows in the packet).
Council members congratulated Turpin on her award recognition and thanked Visit Perry for its outreach and promotional work. Turpin invited council members to attend CVB board meetings and said a July 23 board retreat is tentatively scheduled.
Next steps: Visit Perry will continue outreach and launch the RIPE booking tool and new website; the CVB and city will finalize a DMO agreement consistent with state hotel‑motel statute.
