Tourism

This week marks the beginning of the arrivals of golfers and golf fans, with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) leading the way. The first practice round is on April second at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Columbia County. The final round is at the Augusta National Golf Club on April fifth. Leaders at Augusta Regional Airport said they are ready to welcome visitors. “We’ve had multiple planning meetings. We talk with all of our partners, the TSA, the airlines, the air traffic control, the rental cars. We all have

The Augusta Aviation Commission gave the green light to the next step to expand security checkpoints at Augusta Regional Airport. Members approved a work authorization of $449,438 for consultant Mead and Hunt for the terminal checkpoint modernization project. “This is testing. This is everything outside the bounds of the contract is included in this. It is also extra oversight,” explained Elizabeth Giles, Senior Construction Project Manager at the airport. “This is a very technical project. It’s a critical project. It affects every aspect of our operations inside this building. So,

The committee that oversees income collected through the accommodations tax heard from North Augusta organizations hoping for a financial boost for next year. Members of the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee received 13 requests from nonprofit organizations and the city’s Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (PRT) departments. The city’s 3% tax is collected from people who visit the city and stay in local accommodations. Some events attract major crowds with people staying one or more nights. John Felak, owner of Lookaway Inn and Chairman of the committee, told ABD the city is

The economic impact tourism has on Augusta and the surrounding area was celebrated by Destination Augusta, the Augusta Sports Council, and Film Augusta. The numbers were announced at the 2024 Destination Augusta Champions event. Bennish Brown, President and CEO of Destination Augusta (pictured above), told ABD the event is an opportunity to acknowledge the demanding work done by people in the tourism industry. “We realize we don’t do this by ourselves. We want to make sure this industry knows we appreciate them,” he said. “We are the third largest employment

Local tourism and hospitality leadership is assessing the impact Helene has had so far, and will have in the coming days, on Metro Augusta. Destination Augusta estimates as much as $8.5 million has been lost in economic impact from events that have been canceled and will be canceled for the foreseeable future. “With the news that hurricane Helene was going to impact Georgia, we began to see conferences and conventions cancel their plans. Obviously, the first major thing to go last week was the Iron Man event that was supposed