Cobb Travel & Tourism Celebrates Tourism & Hospitality Growth at Annual Meeting

CT&T announces Cobb’s Tourism Economic Impact Numbers, moving to a new office space and naming the community room after James “Jim” L. Rhoden, Jr.

Cobb County, Ga. (November 14, 2023) – Cobb Travel & Tourism (CT&T) held its Annual Meeting and Mixer today, November 14, at The Brickyard Marietta to share new tourism economic impact numbers and recognize the destination’s hospitality community with its annual Spot-On Awards.

New economic impact numbers from Tourism Economics for Cobb County in 2022 were announced. Tourism remains Cobb’s number one economic driver, with $2.4 billion in economic impact, which is a 9% increase. More than 18,000 jobs are supported by tourism in Cobb, and each Cobb County household would need to be taxed an additional $726 per year to replace taxes generated by tourism activity.

CT&T also announced it will move to a new office space in the Galleria Office Park in the Spring of 2024. This dynamic new office space will allow the CT&T team to further fulfill their roles as a catalyst and collaborators, as well as highlight its partners and every tourism and hospitality aspect of the Cobb community.

The largest collaboration area in the new office space was named after CT&T’s 2023 Hospitality Hero, James “Jim” L. Rhoden Jr., for his service to CT&T and the Cobb community. Rhoden is about to begin his 17th year as a CT&T Board of Directors member. He is the founder and chairman of Futren Hospitality. Additionally, he is the founding chairman and board member of Cobb Community Foundation and serves with many other civic organizations throughout the community. “Jim has been a part of the fabric of Cobb for many years, and you can see his fingerprints on many of the organizations and accomplishments that make our community great,” said Holly Quinlan, president and CEO of Cobb Travel & Tourism.

During the Annual Meeting, CT&T’s annual Spot-On Awards were given to partners for their outstanding support of Cobb Travel & Tourism over the past year. Award winners include:

• Attraction Partner of the Year – The Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
• Cobb Sports Alliance Event of the Year – Beast of the Southeast – A5 Volleyball
• Event of the Year – City of Smyrna’s Food Truck Tuesdays
• Hospitality Hero of the Year – James “Jim” L. Rhoden, Jr, Futren Hospitality
• Hotel Partner of the Year – Omni Hotel at The Battery Atlanta
• Restaurant Partner of the Year – Silla Del Toro
• Cobbunity ChangeMaker Award – Maxine Wilson