State of Georgia Marketing Tools (Atlanta, Savannah: spring break, home, live in)

[architect77]

Does the State of Georgia actively promote its resources to the world through marketing tools such as this weblink to North Carolina's miniscule Morehead City deep water port? I know Savannah's port is about 100 times bigger, so I'm sure it does, but this weblink is just one of the many reasons I have such respect for my home state of NC.
John Stropki :: NC State Ports

Metro Atlanta and the State of Georgia should sell itself with the highest level of marketing tools, in my opinion...

[arjay57]

Yeah, the State spends a ton of money on marketing.

For starters, check out:

Georgia.org - About

georgia.gov - Online access to Georgia government.

[testa50]

Georgia aggressively markets itself. We have economic development offices opened in foreign countries, including one in Shanghai.

This website is a really good place to get an idea of some of the activity that this marketing can generate and all of the initiatives the state has going on at any one time:

GlobalAtlanta.com | Atlanta's International Business News Source

Individually you might not notice things like a new Haitian consulate, an investment by an Israeli and Irish health group, or Senegal's decision to relocate its American tourism office to Atlanta, but over time they add up in a major way. For all its problems, our state government actually does a lot of things right, and is a big player in establishing us globally. Our ports are a great example--Savannah and Brunswick have both risen to the top of their respective businesses.

[Newsboy]

The reason you don't know about Georgia's aggressive marketing efforts is: YOU LIVE IN GEORGIA! You don't market to yourself, after all. I am reminded of the time many years ago when Florida was using the popular catchphrase "The Rules Are Different Here" to promote tourism. Not only were none of my friends who live in Florida aware of that campaign, they were appalled and horrified at what it implied: Come on down,break the law, the same rules don't apply (this was back when spring break was still a desirable thing for many Florida beach communities).

[tamlym]

Why doesn't Atlanta have a deal with Delta (since their hub is here) offer free layovers for all flights connecting through Atlanta? If people leave the airport and spend some time here voluntarily, they'll drop some cash! I know people that fly through here without stopping in town because it'll cost them as an extra trip to stop over here for a few days....or is that the excuse my friends are giving me? lol

[Newsboy]

^^^ UH .... maybe because most people just want to get to where they are going? The thought of spending a couple of days in Atlanta on your way to Paris sucks? That having "multuple-day layovers" between connnecting flights totally defeats the concept of a hub system? That Delta is not in the busiess of selling Atlanta?

[arjay57]

I don't think it's such a bad idea. I'd probably explore more places if I had a free layover.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I don't think it's such a bad idea. I'd probably explore more places if I had a free layover.

I agree. Icelandair has always allowed free layovers as an economic development initiative. I assume there are probably lots of issues to work through, but you could probably work something out. You might need to pay Delta a bit, but it could be worth it.

It would actually be a massive improvement if you would just try to work with Delta to offer an extended layover to certain types of itineraries (ie, international stopovers) for a fixed fee (something like $100). Europeans LOVE shopping in American cities, and would probably jump at the opportunity to do so when flying back from a vacation in Latin America, for example.

Instead, if you try to do something like London > San Jose, Costa Rica > Atlanta > London it would probably be much, much more expensive than doing this without the Atlanta stop.