Explore Georgia Facebook Fan Page Launched to Promote Tourism

ATLANTA, May 15, 2009 – The Georgia Department of Economic Development's (GDEcD) Tourism Division has launched the 'Explore Georgia' Facebook fan page. The page is updated regularly and encourages fans to travel within the state and discover the many unique and unexpected destinations around Georgia.

'Two years ago, primarily college kids and young adults were communicating on social media.  Now the median age of social media users is shooting upward – and it has become one of the best ways for us to reach consumers with travel information and travel deals,' said Kevin Langston, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Tourism, GDEcD. 'Facebook has proven to be a terrific channel for us to get our story out to travelers.' In addition, the state has also created the 'Georgia Explorers' Facebook group, an online community for Georgia's travel industry, where ideas, questions, success stories, suggestions and industry updates can be shared and discussed. The forum was created to facilitate collaboration, education, problem solving and idea generation among the industry. Georgia's tourism industry is embracing social media and using it to increase visitation to the state and encourage locals to discover what is in their own backyard. Facebook is an excellent way to reach new audiences that prefer web-based resources to plan their vacation. The Tourism division is preparing to launch a blog and YouTube channel.

The state's April 2009 Techno Tourism Conference explored social media offering the more than 100 attendees a chance to hear from technology experts, industry veterans and creative professionals about affordable, effective and essential social media marketing tools. Attendees represented convention and visitors bureaus, tourism associations, visitor centers, destinations, attractions and other hospitality entities.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.

For more information, visit www.exploregeorgia.org or call 404-962-4075.