Visit Macon announces Tourism Awards as business booms

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Visit Macon has awarded several Tourism Awards to local business workers as the tourism industry has seen a “significant recovery” since the pandemic.

Visit Macon says that last year, the tourism industry in Macon contributed to the local economy as visitors spent nearly $369 million in direct spending, which was a 26.3% increase over 2020, and that visitors contributed more than $31 million in state and local taxes, as well as the fact that over 4,600 jobs in Macon-Bibb have been supported by tourism. Visit Macon adds that every household in Macon-Bibb saved $537.80 in local property taxes due to visitor spending.

Gary Wheat, the President and CEO of Visit Macon credits this growth in tourism in Macon to partnerships in PR, that go into publications like the Atlantic Journal Constitution, Axios, Fodors, Travel + Leisure, Forbes, Southern Living, and more.

The 3 awards given were the Otis Hughes Tourism Spirit Award– given to Lisa Lemon, the Executive Director of the Ocmulgee Mounds Association,  the B.J. Cain Top-of-the-Line Award– given to Porsha Beasley, a front desk agent at the Tru by Hilton Macon North, and the Stephen Fulbright Soul of Macon Award– given to Kaitlyn Kressin, the owner of Ocmulgee Brewpub, Fall Line Brewery, and Just Tap’d.

For more information about these awards and the winners, visit http://www.visitmacon.org .