Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/3108
Black Meetings & Tourism April/May 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 84 in downtown's Curtis Hixon Park in the fall of 2009. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay History Center, which opened in January 2008, showcases exhibits that cover 12,000 years of local history. Ybor City, the hub of Tampa's Latin American commu- nity, has a new 210,000-sq. ft. shopping and entertainment complex called Centro Ybor that includes restaurants, a museum and other attractions. Channelside Bay Plaza, another new entertainment center, is located on the down- town waterfront next to the aquarium. GEORGIA Besides a capital city that consistently ranks as one of the hottest vacation spots for African-American travelers, Georgia has a host of other meeting and travel destinations throughout the state. Northern Georgia includes Augusta, home to the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History; Columbus, where the Black Trail includes the home of blues pioneer Ma Rainey; and Macon, site of the Tubman African-American Museum. It also includes places in the suburban Atlanta area like Decatur, the gateway to Stone Mountain Park, and Gwinnett County, which boasts the nation's largest Hindu Temple. Notable destinations in the southern portion of the state include Albany, where you can tour the Albany Civil Rights Movement Museum; Valdosta, home to the official state musical theater, the Peach State Summer Theatre; and Brunswick & the Golden Isles of Georgia, the coastal resort area that includes Jekyll Island with its National Landmark District and Georgia Sea Turtle Center waiting to be explored. ATLANTA One of newest developments in the ever-evolving Atlanta is 12th & Midtown, a mixed-used downtown com- plex that will be centered on the Loews Atlanta Hotel. Scheduled to open in April 2010, the city's first Loews hotel will contain 414 guestrooms and more than 24,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. Atlanta's largest meeting venue, the Georgia World Congress Center, offers 1.4 million sq. ft. of exhibit space in 12 halls, two grand ballrooms and 105 meeting rooms. Joining the greener hospitality bandwagon, the convention Street Car Line is still alive and well in Tampa Photo Credit: Tampa CVB WWW.GICC.COM Our guests get here from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in just 2 minutes, comfortably and free of charge, by the Automated People Mover. THE GICC. ENJOY THE RIDE. Automated People Mover begins service fall 2009 400,000 TOTAL SQUARE FEET | 150,000 SQ. FT. EXHIBIT HALL 40,000 SQ. FT. BALLROOM | 32 MEETING ROOMS 3 EXECUTIVE BOARD ROOMS 90,000 SQ. FT. OF PRE-FUNCTION SPACE 17 COVERED LOADING DOCKS | 2,000 SURFACE PARKING SPACES 8,500 HOTEL ROOMS IN VICINITY | 2 MINUTE RIDE FROM AIRPORT