From whitewater to great food and lunchboxes to selfie spots, Visit Columbus GA is making waves and garnering attention to draw visitors to the destination.
 
Peter Bowden, president and CEO of Visit Columbus GA—the city’s convention and visitors bureau—and his team are focused on making sure that everyone knows how great it is to visit and experience the city. Visit Columbus GA’s strategy is a targeted public relations campaign coupled with hosting key media to experience the city.
 
The efforts have been noticed. Currently, Columbus is a candidate in Southern Living Magazine’s 2020 “South’s Best” awards in the category of “Best City in the South.” The growing excitement piqued the interest of Georgia native, travel writer and author Mary Ann Anderson enough she planned a return visit to Columbus.
 
In July, Visit Columbus GA, assisted Anderson during her time in Columbus. On August 8, 2019, the first story resulting from her visit published on Forbes.com with the title, “Surfing Without an Ocean: Eating, Drinking, Seeing and Doing in Columbus, Georgia's Cool Cat City.” In it she describes what she saw, tasted and touched, and shared this observation, “Here’s the thing about Columbus and its downtown, especially if you’ve explored Atlanta and Savannah but still want to see a different facet of Georgia, Columbus may well be the coolest cat in Georgia.” Anderson regularly contributes to other media outlets and expects more stories to be published soon. As of the morning of August 19, the Tribune News Service picked up the story and media outlets across the country have published the story including Biloxi, Miss., Bradenton, Fla., and Tacoma, Wash.
 
“The goal is to lift the awareness of Columbus in the media and, in turn, the public, and it’s paying off in a big way. That one story had 71.1 million impressions. If we had purchased advertising to get the same exposure, it would have cost an estimated $658,000. We spend pennies on the dollar compared to that number and we are reaching both regional and national markets,” Bowden shared. “We continue to grow as a major player for both travel destination and lifestyle. Millennials are realizing that Columbus is a great place to live, work and play at lower costs and with less traffic. It makes our programs of work very worthwhile.”
 
In late July, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured the story, “5 things to do during a day or weekend trip to Columbus.” Accomplished writer Mary Caldwell, who contributes to media outlets across the country, stated, “If you haven't been to Columbus in a while, you might associate it more with what’s nearby—Fort Benning and Callaway Gardens—than with what the city itself has to offer. The area has undergone a transformation, however, adding plenty to see and do if you're looking for a fun weekend or day trip from Atlanta.” This story had 7.6 million impressions with an estimated value of $70,368.
 
Travel writers often also are judges for accolades such as USA Today's 10Best. In June, Columbus was featured as one of “Georgia's Best Parks for Outdoor Lovers.” 10Best judge and writer Lesli Peterson commented, “When looking for outdoor adventure, Columbus, Georgia, has it all. Conveniently located just about 90-minutes southwest of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, it is home to more of the ‘best,’ ‘only’ and ‘newest’ outdoor adventures for outdoor lovers.” The web-based story generated 1.42 million impressions.
 
In the past 12 months, as a result of the public relations efforts, 174 travel/lifestyle stories can be attributed as direct results to campaigns, with an estimated return on investment of 168 times the investment.
 
“We have so much to offer visitors in Columbus. Unique and special things. We can’t just do great things and wait for the people to stumble upon them. We have to tell people, show people and help them showcase our dynamic and ever-changing offerings,” Bowden shared. “People are doing great things here. It shows by great media coverage and by seeing people exploring our city. And, when visitors spend money, they support our local business owners and leave behind tax dollars to the benefit of all of our citizens.”