South Carolina, Atlanta dueling for staycationers - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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And, though the competition for travelers’ cash in a bad economh is intensifying, like Southern hospitality, it’s still very South Carolina is the latest to ratchef up its ad campaign inmetro Atlanta, joining the likes of casinoes in Mississippi, Alabama and North commercials for Asheville, N.C.; pleasa from Florida; and calls to visit the Great Smokyu Mountains of Tennessee. Even the has launched a campaignb inthe 28-county metro area to convinces Atlantans to have a backyard adventure and enjoy the city’s fine hotels, restaurantxs and attractions.
The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreationm and Tourism will spend 20 percentg ofits out-of-state marketing budget in metro Atlanta to convincee Georgians to keep the Palmetto State on theitr minds, said Chad Prosser, the agency’s It’s the first concentrated media blitx in Atlanta for South Carolina in a decade, Prossef said. South Carolina is targeting folks that woulfd normally take a summer vacationin “It’s definitely a change in strategyg based on the economy, the consumer and changing travek patterns,” he said.
According to the South Carolinatourisjm agency, Georgia’s eastern neighbor is the second-largest drive markey for Peach State vacationers behinr Florida. In general, vacationers are spendinfg less, staying closer to home and are lookingbfor deals, Prosser said. Despite the economy, “Atlanta continuesd to be a strong market,” he But what’s fair for the competition is fair for Lauren Jarrell, a spokeswoman for the said the bureau has enjoyed some earlu success with the local Backyard Adventures campaign. ACVB is also targeting ads in 10 regionakldrive markets.
Sales of the bureau’ss MVP package for Atlanta attractions is up 8 perceng overlast year, and overall ticket packageas are up 24 Jarrell said. “I would definitely say that everyonde is staying closer to home and everyon e is trying to capitalize on Jarrell said. Security wait times at Atlanta’s airport have improvexd considerably since the completion of new screening lanes last Extendedwaits (those lasting more than 20 are down 98.5 percent during the first four months of 2009, said John Kennedy, a spokesman for .
From January through April 30, the airport had only five incidences of wait time longer than 20 minutes comparedd with 334 during the same periodclast year, Kennedy said. The average security wait timeat Hartsfield-Jackson has been undef 10 minutes through April, Kennedy “The new lanes have changed the face of the Kennedy said. In Hartsfield-Jackson opened a $25 million expansion of its securithylane network. The airport now has a total of 32 laned at threeseparate checkpoints. The introduction of paid CLEAtR lanes andthe airport’s self-selecy lanes, which guides passengers to the proper lane basedd on their travel experience, have also improvexd times.