East Point hires Atlanta convention bureau

By Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The city of East Point is turning to the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau for help in luring more tourists and convention business.

The South Fulton city has hired the ACVB to be its destination marketer and is asking that the Atlanta tourism agency include the city's attractions and 16 hotels in materials used to pitch the metro area as a visitor mecca.

The $1.4 million contract lasts one year, with an optional 2-year renewal.

"We would like to capitalize on our geography a little better," said Jennifer Fine, director of East Point's department of economic development, adding that most of the city's hotel guests come from nearby Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. "This seemed to be the best approach."

To fund the marketing effort, East Point plans to raise its hotel/motel tax from 3 percent to 8 percent in an ordinance expected to be ready for City Council consideration in April, Fine said. If approved the increased collections will begin in June.

The jump in the hotel/motel tax is expected to generate, depending on occupancy, a little more than $3 million annually, Fine said. About $1.4 million of that will be directed to the ACVB marketing with the rest going to the city's general fund and a fund for development of tourism-related facilities.

"The interesting thing here is East Point didn't want to reinvent the wheel," Gregory Pierce, ACVB executive vice president and chief financial officer, told ACVB board members Wednesday. "They felt there could be certain synergies (between East Point and the ACVB). We feel that, too."