Visit Macon Launches New Website

MACON, GA (October 10, 2023) — Visit Macon is thrilled to announce a new & improved visitmacon.org. The new website will feature innovative new tools to help visitors plan their visit to Macon, Georgia and will be launching at approximately 2 p.m., Tuesday, October 10th, 2023.

“We have combined our fresh, new destination branding with easy-to-navigate listings, the ability to book hotels directly within the site, an improved events calendar, as well as the latest technologies,” Visit Macon Director of Marketing Marisa Rodgers said. “This new presence at visitmacon.org will give visitors a glimpse of everything that Macon, Georgia has to offer!”

This new website is made possible with an investment from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

“We are proud to partner with Visit Macon and support their work as a portal to the community and all its offerings,” said Lynn Murphey, Knight Foundation’s Macon Program Director.

Gary Wheat, CEO & President of Visit Macon explains: “With the anticipated designation of Georgia’s first National Park and the opening of new resources in Macon-Bibb – such as the new 10,000 seat amphitheater and the largest indoor pickleball complex in the world – we are working to get Macon, Georgia ready for that growth in tourism. This includes giving our visitors, prospecting meetings & conventions, event planners, group tour operators, and more, the tools to properly research our destination, find comprehensive planning tools and tell an accurate and relatable depiction of what it is to visit “Where Soul Lives!”

Rodgers explains that the new site lets potential visitors curate an itinerary and find travel ‘personas’ customized to the type of traveler, such as traveling solo, travel with pets, family-friendly itinerary ideas, business/meetings travel and more. It also includes an ‘Experience Station’ where you can connect directly with a Macon-made music playlist on Spotify, stream The Creek 100.9 FM and take a virtual tour of the destination. Visit Macon also plans to launch a podcast in 2024 and continues to publish weekly blogs and videos to add to the resources available throughout the website.

The website was designed by Tempest: Destination Marketing Solutions. Tempest is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and offers a thorough understanding of all aspects of the travel industry. The website also provides a cloud-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) for the travel and tourism industry known as iDSS Cyclone.

“Our staff, led by our Digital Media Manager Haley Garrett, came up with the concepts, the text, videos and photography that showcase this wonderful place, and the experts at Tempest really brought all that to life,” Rodgers said. “The result is a website that delivers for visitors an exciting preview of what they will find when they come stay with us.

“We leaned heavily into Macon’s music heritage. There are added visual elements alluding to Macon’s music and film story, plenty of movement/animation, neon and lots of color.”

“We are proud of our new site and believe it will deliver new hospitality business to Macon. And that benefits every single one of us.”

In Visit Macon’s 2022-23 fiscal year, over 500,000 users visited the site.

Rodgers said restaurants, attractions and lodging inside the city receive free listings on the website and can update those listings free. Businesses outside the city-county of Macon-Bibb can purchase an annual listing on the site for $250 as part of the Visit Macon partnership program. The same program will allow for premium placement on the website, as well as discounted digital advertising spaces available exclusively to premium partners.

For more information: contact Marisa Rodgers (478) 743-1074 x106 or mrodgers@visitmacon.org.

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About Visit Macon: The mission of Visit Macon is to unify and lead our community in marketing the Macon-Bibb County area as a superior visitor and meeting destination. Visit Macon promotes Macon, Georgia to travel writers, meeting planners, group tour operators and leisure travelers in an effort to bring people and revenues into the community and area businesses. http://www.visitmacon.org