Tourism

We all know the leisure and hospitality sector has been hardest hit by the pandemic. Leisure and hospitality employment in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has fallen from more than 28,000 pre-pandemic to 24,000 in December 2021. The leisure and hospitality sector includes hotels and restaurants as well as arts, entertainment and recreation. However, there is some good news from the hotel section of the industry as reported by Smith Travel Research. In Richmond County, both occupancy rates and revenues per available room (RevPAR) were generally higher in 2021

In his Business Minute, Neil Gordon reports on Mary Kay’s regional career event that will make a big impact on Augusta’s economy.

Because Augusta’s film industry has experienced explosive growth in recent years, Augusta Technical College wants to prepare people to work in that industry. The college has partnered with the Georgia Film Academy and a local company called Indiegrip.com LLC (see photo above story) to begin offering an 18-hour non-credit film production certification program in January 2022. Classes will meet on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the cost will be $750. Rick Kelly – Indiegrip.com’s owner/operator, is excited to be involved in the program. “Our mission has always

Augusta is universally known as the Home of the Masters, but a major publication has recognized the city for a different reason. For the sixth time, Destination Augusta has won Convention South’s Readers’ Choice Award for having some of the best meeting sites in the South. (Above photo of “The Oglethorpe Ballroom” at the Augusta Marriott and Convention Center). This year, meeting planners nominated their favorite event sites, and more than 8,000 readers and professionals participated in an online vote to select 415 of these sites in 15 states. “The