Local business leaders, dignitaries and artists celebrated Augusta as a “feel good city,” Wednesday evening, as Destination Augusta hosted its annual State of Tourism event at the Marriott Convention Center.
Augusta’s tourism wing gathered guests in the Oglethorpe Ballroom for its yearly recap acknowledging local industry achievements throughout the year, and offering glimpses of its plans for 2026.
“We are thriving,” said James Heffner, chairman of Destination Augusta’s board of directors during his address, noting that the hospitality industry is the “third largest employment sector in our region.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that one in eight new jobs will be in leisure and hospitality by 2033. In September the Georgia Department of Economic Development announced that Georgia tourism broke records for the third year in a row, ranking fifth in the U.S. for overnight visitation for the fifth year in a row, with tourism being Georgia’s second largest economic contributor behind agriculture.
During Wednesday’s event, several Destination Augusta representatives, including its CEO and president Bennish Brown and Augusta Sports Council CEO Michelle Pippin, highlighted that between entertainment, food and beverage, transportation, lodging and retail tourism brought some $890 million to Richmond County this year.
The Sports Council itself brought about $28.7 million to the city, drawing more than 12,000 athletes booked some 21,000 hotel room nights for 15 sport events, such as Ironman Augusta, the Nike Peach Jam, the USSSA Military World Softball Championships and Augusta Half Marathon.
“Consider those temporary Richmond County residents that decided to live in our community,” said Pippin. “Picture every hotel room in the city filled for three to four straight nights.”
Brown underscored recent initiatives by Destination Augusta, such as the establishment of its Hype Team, a group of volunteers who promote local attractions to visitors; the installation of digital kiosks, and making new Experience Passes available through the Destination Augusta website.
Experience Passes are a kind of digital passport visitors can acquire, featuring curated attractions—such as shops and restaurants—offering deals and discounts that can be redeemed with the pass. This year’s additional passes include the Augusta Cocktail Trail, the Bold Black-Owned Business Pass and Augusta’s Black History Pass.
Bennish also highlighted upcoming projects like the reopening of the Augusta Municipal Golf Course, also known as The Patch, and the Outdoor Urban Adventure Center, both slated for 2026.
“Progress comes when there’s a unified vision that drives us and when we hold ourselves accountable for not just talking, but taking action,” said Brown in his final address of the night. “2025 showed what’s possible. 2026 is our opportunity to go further, to invite more people to feel what we feel about this place where we live.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering general reporting for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com
