The official destination marketing organization for the cities of College Park and East Point – ATL Airport District.
The organization was formerly known as Meet College Park, but with the recent addition of East Point to its sales and marketing efforts, organizational leaders recognized the need to create a new overarching brand that would be inclusive of both cities.
“We are excited to expand our vision to raise visibility and awareness for these two special Southern cities,” Cookie Smoak, organization president, said in a statement. “While we certainly have established College Park and East Point as leading destinations for meetings and tourism from a local and regional standpoint, the ATL Airport District brand will bring the area’s exclusive features to the forefront on a national and international level.”
The new brand will also allow its representatives to market the areas’ unique attributes and amenities more simply and productively to meeting planners and visitors, she said.
“The mission of the all-encompassing organization is to generate economic development for the cities of College Park and East Point by effectively marketing the community as a preferred tourism, convention and meeting destination,” Smoak said. “Targeted towards millennials – the area’s current largest growth market – the organization will continue to promote the area through a variety of platforms, including online promotional campaigns, print advertising, social media, public relations, trade shows and client familiarization tours.”
Hand-in-hand with the launch of the overarching brand, the organization will welcome a convention services department, a new website and new events.
Additionally, the inaugural ATL Airport District Restaurant Week, set to take place March 12 through 20, will expand to include both East Point and College Park dining destinations.
Throughout the year, the organization aims to fuel economic growth by increasing hotel room night bookings and convention center bookings within its territory, partner with key neighboring businesses to develop a broader network of resources and capitalize on the area’s proximity to the city of Atlanta – one of the top U.S. travel destinations – and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“Individually, College Park and East Point have developed strong networks of resources that have contributed to the consistent and impressive growth of the Atlanta airport area as a whole,” Mercedes Miller, organization board chair, said in a statement. “We are excited to leverage those resources by creating cooperative marketing programs that create and add value for our stakeholders, partners and members, and are eager to see what is in store for the ATL Airport District community as a result of our joint efforts.”
Home to the world’s busiest airport, Georgia’s second largest convention center, more than 8,000 hotel rooms, an eclectic mix of restaurants, and located just minutes from downtown Atlanta, the area including College Park and East Point has earned its spot as one of the South’s premiere destinations for business meetings and tourism, Miller said.
In addition, the area is home base to corporate and regional headquarters and tourist attractions, such as the Delta Flight Museum, Chick-fil-A home office backstage tour, Porsche Cars North America and Delta Air Lines.
On the Web: www.ATLdistrict.com