Centennial Olympic Park
Like other large cities around the country, Atlanta has ridden the momentum of a good economy to garner a plethora of meeting, convention and trade show business. Atlanta hosted 18 citywide events with more than 5,000 peak-night guest rooms booked in 2016—that’s one every three weeks—and will host another 18 such events in 2017.
The city is a favorite meetings destination for corporations and associations in the fields of manufacturing, logistics and agriculture because it is close to their Southeastern operations and corporate hubs.
What’s more, the medical, pharmaceutical and engineering niches use Atlanta frequently for meetings in order to draw upon the local experts at the Centers for Disease Control as well as the science departments at Georgia Tech, Emory University and other institutions of higher learning.
With Atlanta’s hotel occupancy rate hitting a record 73 percent in 2016 and showing no signs of retreat in 2017, event planners considering the city will want to compare the costs with those in other large markets.
For small to mid-sized groups that might want to use one or two hotels for a meeting, Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales officer for Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, has this advice: “November and December are times of good value. We host several sporting events that bring mostly leisure visitors in those months, so there is plenty of meeting space available.”
And with an average high temperature of 54 degrees as late as December 21, Atlanta almost always provides a comfortable, walkable experience during those months.