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Visit Athens highlights tourism growth, warns of downtown hotel shortfall
Summary
Visit Athens outlined a FY27 marketing‑driven budget of about $2.4M, said tourism generated nearly $0.5B in 2024 and estimated a county hotel room inventory of about 2,000 with a downtown shortfall of roughly 300 rooms; officials cited short‑term rentals filling gaps after recent hotel closures.
Katie Williams, chief of Visit Athens, presented the organization’s FY27 strategy before the commission, describing destination marketing as economic development and outlining priorities tied to the Classic Center and Akensport Arena momentum.
Williams said the most recent statewide figures (2024) show tourism in the Athens area generated nearly half a billion dollars in economic activity prior to the arena’s opening. She said Visit Athens projects a FY27 budget of about $2.4 million drawn from the dedicated hotel‑tax allocation (31% of collections) and housing bureau profit. Williams reported 56,000 contracted future room nights that she said equate to an estimated $46 million in future economic impact.
On hotel inventory, Williams estimated the county has about 2,000 hotel rooms and cited studies showing a downtown deficit of roughly 300 rooms. She told commissioners recent hotel closures (Holiday Inn, Marriott Courtyard, the Graduate) reduced traditional inventory and that short‑term rentals are currently helping fill demand. Commissioners asked for exact counts; Williams supplied the estimate and said she would confirm specific figures in the packet materials.
Williams described marketing and PR gains — she cited roughly 5.6 billion media impressions for Athens overall and about 2.5 billion tied to the Classic Center and arena — and outlined FY27 investments: website redesign, CRM system for sales, expanded advertising in out‑of‑state markets, a new summer travel campaign, and activations tied to the World Cup and College Square downtown developments.
Commissioners pressed about room counts and downtown hotel development; Williams flagged commercial air service, continued hotel development and the entertainment district as priorities that will affect long‑term lodging supply.
