Most cities' convention and visitors bureaus make some effort to promote local restaurants, but Atlanta is moving its restaurant community to the promotional forefront and positioning that group as its main attraction.
"The investment in the dining part of what we do promotionally has grown dramatically," said Bill Howard, vice president of marketing for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Howard said that throughout 2008, the Atlanta CVB has spent significantly more than in past years on print and TV advertising. But most significantly, the ACVB has created a separate website to be an informational clearinghouse for Atlanta dining, and the group is drawing viewers to the site with the creation of the Grand Gourmand contest. The lucky winner receives airfare to the city, a four-day stay in a prime hotel, visits to a half-dozen top-line restaurants and a Viking Cooking School class.
"The whole idea of the contest is to get people to the website, which will become the location for all [that] visitors want to know about dining in the city," Howard said. In addition, sweepstakes entrants can opt in to receive regular marketing messages about Atlanta restaurants. "Once we get through the sweepstakes, [diners] also be able to make reservations through the site," he added.
Howard called the city a top-five convention destination, but Bob Amick, chief executive of Concentrics Restaurants, owner and operator of several fine-dining restaurants in the city, believes Atlanta has slipped from the No. 2 spot it held a decade ago to No. 7 today. Amick said Atlanta lost convention business to other cities that better marketed their unique points of differentiation.
"Orlando has Disney, Vegas has [gambling] and New Orleans has its thing," Amick began. "So the question for us became, 'What does Atlanta have?' "
The answer, he said, was the city's restaurants, and slowly but steadily, the ACVB began boosting outside awareness of Atlanta's restaurants, particularly those downtown, due to their proximity to convention facilities.
The ACVB also formed a special committee, chaired by Amick, to work with restaurateurs to find ways to improve restaurant promotion. The result is a focus not only on restaurants themselves but also on Atlanta dining history, restaurant community personalities and Southern-influenced fare.
Given the popularity of the Food Network and shows like "Iron Chef" and "Top Chef," spotlighting Atlanta's chefs was an easy place to start, Howard said. ACVB has run magazine ads, TV spots and Web articles promoting local chefs like recent Beard Award nominee Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene. Nationally recognized chefs getting props for opening new restaurants in Atlanta include Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Spice Market; Tom Colicchio, of Craft; Jeffrey Chodorow, of Maxim Prime; and Laurent Tourondel, of BLT Steak.
"Without a doubt, people planning conventions will recognize those star chefs and be interested in coming to those restaurants," Howard said. "We're also really reaching out to publications and travel writers and hosting a culinary familiarization tour in the fall."
Atlanta chef Kevin Rathbun, who co-owns Rathbun's, Kevin Rathbun Steak and Krog Bar, said a recent "Iron Chef" victory over chef Bobby Flay helped make him a promotional tool for the city. Already a believer in face time with his guests, Rathbun said he's amazed at how many people recognize him from the show when he tours his dining rooms.
"I heard it from customers from all over the country that they saw me on 'Iron Chef' and that's why they came here," Rathbun said. Knowing the personality below the toque, he added, is "hugely important for people coming to a town to know who that chef is. They want to put that match together. They want to know about the people behind [the restaurant]."
Sonya Jones, owner and dessert maker at the Sweet Auburn Bread Co., was complimentary of ACVB's promotion of local restaurants that lacked nationally recognized names. She said the ACVB understands that diners are more sophisticated than ever and that they want to taste the foods indigenous to the places they visit.
"When people come here, they're looking for a taste of Atlanta; they're looking for the natives who cook here," said the effervescent Jones. "I'm from here, so I know the story of Atlanta, I know the history, and I can talk about it — tell the story with my desserts. I love it when they put me out there, because I'm like, 'Hey, this right here is a taste of Atlanta!' "