Letter from President and CEO & Chair of the Board of Directors
To our members, hospitality partners and colleagues,
We are proud to celebrate another remarkable year of positioning Atlanta as a premier destination for global meetings, conventions, events and visitors. This past year was filled with milestones that set the stage for Atlanta’s hospitality community for years to come.
We continued to demonstrate our city’s ability to host major events, successfully executing 19 major citywides and welcoming some of the world’s largest sporting events – College Football Playoff National Championship, FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. These citywide events and others attracted a mix of new and returning visitors to Atlanta.
Our 2025 efforts laid the groundwork for Atlanta’s return to the global spotlight as we plan to host FIFA World Cup 2026™ followed by Super Bowl LXII in 2028 and NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2031. These wins underscore Atlanta’s position as a premier destination for major sporting events and solidify our city’s appeal on a national stage.
Atlanta is a world-class city to visit as we’re always evolving and creating new things to discover. In 2025, our city’s dining scene received additional accolades in the MICHELIN Guide, increasing our list to more than 60 MICHELIN recognized restaurants. Our connectivity expanded as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport added more flights – now totaling more than 160 domestic and nearly 90 international destinations across more than 50 countries. Developments across the city continue to enhance our neighborhoods, offering more places to dine, stay and experience.
As Atlanta continues to grow, our team – in partnership with our collaborative hospitality community – will always be at the forefront of driving new visitors, meetings, conventions and events to the city.
ABOUT US
Established in 1913, ACVB is dedicated to marketing Atlanta to tourists, conventions attendees, meeting planners and business travelers
Mission
Favorably impact the Atlanta economy by selling and marketing Atlanta globally as the premier conventions, events and leisure destination
Vision
To be the most welcoming, inclusive and easiest convention city to work with in the U.S.
Hotel Motel Tax Allocation – 8 percent
ACVB is funded by the hotel and motel tax through a contract between ACVB and Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA). This tax allocation funds organizations dedicated to bringing meetings and conventions to Atlanta, fueling job creation and economic development.
NUMBERS THAT MATTER
2025 was full of successful milestones for ACVB and metro Atlanta’s hospitality community.
Sales Update
Atlanta is one of the nation’s top convention cities, offering unique solutions for meeting planners to make their events a success. In 2025, ACVB’s sales team secured new and returning events for future years through many efforts.
The team also maintained involvement in ASAE, Association Forum, Destinations International, IAEE, Maritz Travel, MPI, NCBMP, PCMA, RCMA, SGMP and U.S. Travel Association.
Servicing Events
ACVB is dedicated to creating a seamless and welcoming experience for meeting planners and their attendees, raising the bar for event planning. The organization serves as an extension of an event, meeting or convention team, offering everything from action-packed itineraries for meeting attendees to assisting in supplier and venue search.
In 2025, the team:
- Organized and hosted nearly 140 customer planning visits
- Provided enhanced service support to more than 50 mid-tier and citywide conventions/events and more than 240 groups total
Conventions and Events Love ATL
To better understand how ACVB can improve its destination services, a survey is distributed to meeting planners after each event. The results for 2025 were extremely positive and further exemplify ACVB’s commitment to providing unmatched services for meetings and conventions.
Atlanta is a global hub with international travelers visiting the city daily. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport makes it easy for global visitors to arrive and depart from the city as the airport offers flights to nearly 90 international destinations across more than 50 countries.
This year, ACVB’s international sales team worked diligently to secure more opportunities for global engagement in the future.
2025 TOP INTERNATIONAL VISITATION MARKETS
ACVB is actively engaged in giving back to the city and pursuing sustainable initiatives.
Giving Back
ACVB’s destination services team participated in Event Service Professionals Association (ESPA) Celebrates Services Week with the following activities:
- Helped coordinate a lunch for Atlanta Police Department’s Zone 5
- Volunteered at the Gateway Center with event services teams at Georgia World Congress Center and local hotels
- Participated in Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency’s clothing drive
Sustainable Initiatives
Known as the ‘City in the Forest’, Atlanta has a lot of recognition as a sustainable city – from being ranked third in the country for Energy-Star certified buildings to having nearly 50 percent in tree canopy coverage.
ACVB launched a sustainability committee – ATL Green Team. This group is comprised of sustainability champions from key ACVB member organizations and ACVB staff. The ATL Green Team is responsible for helping ACVB build and amplify the hospitality industry’s green efforts, assist in educating other members on how to be greener and connect meeting planners with sustainable partners and vendors. In 2025, the group:
- Developed a sustainability section for ACVB’s meetings website
- Built a green directory for convention partners with new filters allowing enhanced supplier search to include environmental, accessibility and social impact attributes
- Created additional sustainability stories to help showcase how ACVB can connect meetings and events to sustainable partners, making their events greener
The group also assisted ACVB’s membership team in hosting a sustainability industry briefing, featuring a panel discussion with hospitality executives and sustainability experts. The panelists shared insight on their sustainable initiatives to educate ACVB members on how they can start their sustainability journey or take it to the next level.
ACVB’s marketing team goes the extra mile in creating innovative branding and marketing strategies that make travelers, convention attendees and locals want to discover Atlanta and its unique culture.
2025 Marketing Campaigns
- Produced “United We Roar,” a four episode documentary spotlighting Atlanta’s soccer culture
- Launched international soccer campaign on BBC.com and billboards across the UK
- Leveraged third year of MICHELIN Guide selections with Celebrating Atlanta dinner series, welcoming renowned British chef and “Great British Menu” champion Kate Austen
- Promoted Atlanta as the Capital of Creativity through launch of “Colors of Atlanta” global broadcast series in 170 countries and 135 languages
- Produced media campaign for Atlanta being recognized as the official statewide honoree for the 68th annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City
- Hosted International Gardens Tourism Symposium at Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Hosted U.S. Civil Rights Trail Connectivity Conference to expand the impact of the trail in Atlanta and beyond
- Launched the inaugural MLB All-Star Restaurant Week in partnership with 44 restaurants; Developed Discover Atlanta microsite and customized Discover Atlanta Now cover during MLB All Star Game
- Partnered with member attractions for a second year of the Kids Play Free September need period campaign, increasing attraction participation by 35%
- Created a celebrity welcome video building excitement for FIFA World Cup 2026™ and highlighting Atlanta as a host city
- Elevated ACVB’s trade show presence with reimagined booth visuals and unique activations at IPW, IMEX and ASAE
2025 Marketing Awards
- Terres Travel Festival 2025 Films and Creativity 2025 award for:
- United We Roar – Ethnography and Society
- Colors of Atlanta – Documentary: Arts, Music and Culture
- NATAS Southeast Regional Emmy Award winner for Atlanta Con Sabor Latino (Season 2) in Documentary, Magazine Programming and Directing – Spanish
- 2025 MAX Innovation Awards finalist for Spanish-speaking tourism marketing
ACVB’s PR team is constantly securing news headlines across domestic, international and convention trade media to encourage travelers, meeting planners and attendees to choose Atlanta.
2025 Coverage Highlights
PR Highlights
- In 2025, ACVB’s PR team hosted domestic and international media in Atlanta, welcoming them with one-of-a-kind experiences to share with their readers and followers.
- To drive further awareness of Atlanta, the PR team met with regional, national and international journalists at industry events including SMPR Forum & Travel Media Marketplace, Travel Media Meetup, IPW, National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Brand USA Travel Week U.K. and Europe, PRSA Travel and Tourism Conference and Travel South Global Week.
- The team drove awareness of Atlanta as a FIFA World Cup 2026™ host city through various media outreach and speaking engagements. This garnered news coverage in outlets such as Meetings Today, National Geographic and many other national and international publications. Additionally, the team represented Atlanta during the FIFA Final Draw in Washington, D.C. to engage with media ahead of the 2026 tournament.
Atlanta continues to be a global hub for sporting events and tournaments as the city hosts everything from intense college rivalries and thrilling club matches to exciting youth competitions. ACVB played a role in booking and supporting the coordination of many of these events to set them up for success.
Many goals were scored for Atlanta’s sports scene in 2025 as the city hosted College Football Playoff National Championship, NCAA Men’s Basketball Regionals, FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. The city also welcomed The Premier League Summer Series in August featuring AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham United.
2025 Citywide Sporting Events Hosted
Atlanta is also home to several returning championships and sporting events.
- Aflac Kickoff Game
- Big South National Qualifier
- CHEERSPORT Nationals
- Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
- Cricket Celebration Bowl
- Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge
- HYROX
- Lil’ Big South
- SEC Football Championship Game
- Southern Regional Volleyball Association (SRVA)
ACVB brings hospitality professionals together from across the city at its two largest events – annual meeting and Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame.
112th annual meeting: Centennial Celebration in Aviation
At ACVB’s 2025 annual meeting, nearly 700 ACVB members, city and county officials and industry stakeholders came to celebrate the centennial anniversaries of two iconic Atlanta institutions – Delta Air Lines and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The event featured a fireside chat with ACVB’s board chair Erica Qualls-Battey, area general manager for Marriott International – Atlanta and general manager for Atlanta Marriott Marquis; Ed Bastian, CEO, Delta Air Lines; and the honorable Andre Dickens, mayor, City of Atlanta. The event closed with special remarks from Kamora Freeland, a Spelman student and the youngest African American female pilot in the nation.
26th annual Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame
The annual Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame ceremony recognizes individuals who have spent their careers establishing Atlanta as a prominent destination for meetings and tourism.
This year, ACVB inducted:
- Norma Dean, former director of national specialty sales, Delta Air Lines
- Pat and Sherry Henry, president and vice president, Dragon Con Inc.
- Gerry Klaskala, owner and co-founder, Canoe and former owner and founder, Aria
- Cookie Smoak, former president, ATL Airport District Convention & Visitors Bureau
ACVB also awarded Georgia Aquarium as Member of the Year and Patrick Lee, director, sales and marketing, Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Buckhead, as Volunteer of the Year.
ACVB is committed to its members and strives to provide them with the best possible resources and opportunities to leverage business opportunities.
What ACVB Members Have to Say
