Tourism important for Albany, Dougherty County

ALBANY — As tourism continues to be an important part of the economy of Albany and Dougherty County, the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is hosting various events to help spur economic impact.

Albany CVB Manager of Marketing and Communications Kristen Schuette shared a brief overview of what the organization does at Monday’s regular meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Dougherty County.

Schuette said that, according to the state travel association, tourism generated $213.86 million in domestic tourist spending for Dougherty County.

“We are Albany’s destination marketing organization,” said Schuette. “Our main goal is to generate overnight stays, so basically heads in beds and feet in sheets. We bring visitors to town because it helps stimulate our economic growth. When people are staying here they shop at our stores, eat at our restaurants, helping to stimulate our economy.”

The CVB, Schuette explained, is funded entirely from money collected in the form of the hotel/motel tax. In fiscal year 2013-2014 Albany collected nearly $1.7 million in hotel/motel taxes, $974,291 going to the City of Albany and $725,000 going to the CVB directly for marketing, events, and salary expenses.

Those numbers represent a 15 percent increase in revenue from the previous year, indicating more visitors are coming to Albany, which Schuette said saves area households roughly $403 a year in local and state taxes.

Some of the ways the CVB works to draw tourists to Albany is by promoting and hosting its own events like its annual family reunion workshop and through CVB-assisted events like the Marathon, the SRS bike race and ASU’s Homecoming. The CVB also targets motor coach tours, business conventions, the NJCAA Soccer National Championships, Dixie Youth Baseball Tournament, the American Kennel Club Deep South Winter Classic, the Georgia Women Missionary Union Convention, the annual Exchange Club Convention, the annual Sertoma Convention, the ASU National Alumni Conference, and many others.

The CVB assisted in 282 events last year, including 105 family reunions.

In addition to those events the CVB also runs the Albany Welcome Center which is provides basic tourism services, such as offering information about local attractions, helping with travel plans, helping plan itineraries and welcoming guests to the area.

“We provide welcome bags and letters,” Schuette said. “If they need hotel bids, a group rate for a hotel or group greetings, we help with that. We’ll come walk them through the town, extend the lovely southern hospitality and charm that we have.”

And while Schuette said the CVB has many ongoing programs and initiatives the organization is always looking for new ways to help market the community and attract interest.

One such way is through the hosting of travel writers, which in recent years has proven to be beneficial, she said. Schuette said on average the CVB hosts six to eight travel writers a year that come in and write about the community.

“We actually hosted one last year and I think her story got picked up in 26 different publications including the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Herald, and the Sacramento Bee,” Schuette said. “(The writer) recently wrote me and told me that (the story) got picked up by United Arab Emerates so we got some international press out of it as well. We love to see that.”

For all that the CVB does to generate interst in the community, Schuette said it takes the efforts of the entire community to be positive about Albany and promote it. She also said it takes the hard work of hundreds of volunteers at some of the signature events to make sure the message about Albany is spread.

“The main thing is volunteers help showcase Albany,” said Schuette. “Like with the marathon, we always hear from people who are not from here how hospitable Albany is. So we love all the volunteers who help us show just how special Albany really is and just how welcoming the people are here.”

Schuette urged those in attendance to get involved with CVB events and especially the upcoming SRS bike race which is scheduled for Mary 16-17.

To learn more about the bike race and the CVB, visit the organization’s website visitalbanyga.com or contact the organization directly at (229) 317-4760.