The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau’s new board members, effective Jan. 1, reflect its efforts for greater international outreach, according to Bob Coggin, chairman of the ACVB’s International Committee that was formed in 2000.
Mr. Coggin told GlobalFax that the committee’s three main objectives for the coming year are to bring more commerce and tourism from Latin America to Atlanta, to foster greater awareness among Atlantans of the importance of international visitors and to cooperate with neighboring states.
The Atlanta Chamber can get “more bang for our buck on the marketing dollars we spend on international programs,” if it cooperates with international tourist locations in the Carolinas or Louisiana, said Mr. Coggin. “We would like them to stop here in Atlanta for a few days before going to those destinations.”
He described Hartsfield International Airport as the “engine that drives our ability to make international relationships” and one common link for the Southeast to do business with, especially, Latin America.
Several of the new board members have international ties. The new members:
Rafih Benjelloun, president & CEO, Imperial Fez; Greg Cunningham, partner, Ambassador Performance Housing; Sara Gonzalez, president, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; David Hall, general manager, Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel;
Patrick LaFramboise, president & CEO, International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair; Jon Manns, president, DeKalb Convention & Visitors Bureau; John Odum, vice-president & general manager, Six Flags Over Georgia;
Sylvia Ratchford, executive director, Rick Reinhard, president, Central Atlanta Progress Inc.; Fred Schwartz, president, Asian American Hotel Owners Association;
Guy Thomson, vice-president & general manager, Proof of the Pudding and Sam Zamarripa, chief marketing officer & managing director, Hispanbiz.com.
Contact the ACVB at (404) 521-6600.