Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1194291
I N T H E N E W S B M & T ••• September/October 2019 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 6 GATEWAY CENTER ARENA @ COLLEGE PARK SLATED TO OPEN IN OCTOBER South Atlanta's Newest State-Of-The-Art, Multipurpose Venue to Debut Quality Entertainment and Events This Fall The highly anticipated Gateway Center Arena@Collage Park is set to officially open its doors this fall – Friday, October 26 – with its first events scheduled for early November. Operated by the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in partnership with The Fox Theatre, the multipurpose sports and entertainment venue will serve as the home to the College Park Skyhawks, the offi- cial NBA G League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, and hold 5,000 seats for live events, concerts, graduations, conventions and more. Located next door to the city-operated Georgia International Convention Center and minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the 100,000-sq. ft. entertainment destination is poised to become the premier event facility on the city's southside. The venue, which will bring an estimated 600 jobs to College Park and surrounding areas, is complemented by easy access to MARTA, surrounding hotels, curated dining experiences, neighboring attractions including the Delta Flight Museum, the Porsche Driving Experience, and more. "The Gateway Center Arena establishes the City of College Park as not only a unique entertainment destination within Atlanta, but also as a leader in the city's economic development," says Mercedes Miller, Executive Director at the GICC and Gateway Center Arena @ College Park. "Especially with our partnership with The Fox Theatre, we now have a venue hosting sought- after events that is easily accessi- ble for those who live and work in south Atlanta, and even fur- ther beyond the city." Designed with the spectator in mind, the facility's unique layout allows for 360-degree views from any seat, comple- mented by an exclusive food and beverage partnership with CulinAero by Proof of the Pudding. The award-winning culi- nary team aims to create a dining experience that is more than just "concession food" with four concourse-level concession stands including Southern Fried, The Hangar, Post Oak BBQ and Tri-Cities Pizza. Select beer and wines will be available at each concession stand, as well as full bar selections at portable bar locations throughout the concourse. With construction nearing completion, Gateway Center Arena looks ahead to an exciting inaugural line-up of events this fall. One of the first public events taking place in the new Arena will be FanFest, a family friendly event on Saturday, November 9, from noon to 4 p.m. Details on the event will be released soon, followed by the first events announced by the Skyhawks and exclusive booking partner the Fox Theatre, respectively: the Skyhawks home opener on Thursday, November 21, followed by the #TBTour with Immature on Saturday, November 23. Gateway Center Arena is located at 2330 Convention Center Concourse, College Park, GA 30337. For more infor- mation and updates, go to www.arenagatewaycenter.com, or visit the Arena on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. FIRST SHORT-TERM RENTAL SUMMIT HELPS TO CREATE AIRBNB RULES Conference on Regulations Sparked Awareness and Conversation for Solutions Smart City Policy Group (SCPG) hosted their first-of-its- kind summit on short-term rental regulations. The Smart City Policy Summit was held on August 16th at the Austin Central Library Conference Center. Led by SCPG's CEO, Matt Curtis, the summit addressed concerns faced by the short-term rental industry. Nearly 200 city regulators, the travel industry and vacation rental man- agers came together to learn about and discuss issues in the industry as well as present their ideas to create a conversation. "The goal of this summit is to learn from one another about how to communicate better and create local rules that addressed issues in short-term rental regulations," said Curtis. In the past 10 years more than one thousand cities in the United States have discussed, and created, regulations for short-term rentals. Topics discussed involved industry trends, new innovations, and best practices for addressing noise, reg- istration, auditing, quality of life, insurance, tax collection, and remittance. "As important as it is to understand the perspectives and emotions that people bring, decisions cannot be made without