Travelers arriving in Atlanta on nonstop flights from Lagos, Nigeria, and Rio de Janeiro can now see evidence of their hometowns as soon as they enter the international terminal.
City and airport officials on Aug. 13 unveiled digital signs listing Atlanta’s 18 sister cities at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Representatives of the respective sister-city committees were also on hand for the event.
The ads, which carry the heading “Sharing Our Global Community” superimposed on a globe, will rotate on seven three-sided digital signs throughout the terminal, which was opened in May 2012.
They come on line as new Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Miguel Southwell aims to boost the airport’s global connectivity by attracting more nonstop flights to Atlanta from long-haul destinations like China and India, neither of which has a sister-city relationship with Atlanta despite attempts to organize them in the past.
The City of Atlanta’s Office of International Affairs is evaluating current sister-city ties and considering whether to expand and add to those relationships.
Claire Angelle, director of the office, has told Global Atlanta that Atlanta is open to new relationships but is really focused on nurturing its current ones. Efforts are underway to revitalize two of Atlanta’s twin-city ties that have gone dormant: Salzburg, Austria, and Brussels.
In remarks at the unveiling, Ms. Angelle honored the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, a volunteer organization whose leaders had been disappointed with lackluster support from the mayor’s office before the international affairs team was installed last year.
“Since starting working for Mayor Reed over a year ago, I’ve gotten to experience firsthand the dynamism of these relationships when traveling to Montego Bay, Taipei, Lagos and Rio de Janeiro,” Ms. Angelle said.
She also said it was fitting that the airport, which hosts more than a quarter-million passengers per day, is the place chosen to showcase these ties.
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