Atlanta’s hospitality economy combines visitor spending, hotels, food and beverage businesses, conventions, transportation, and attractions. The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) estimates 51 million visitors in 2024, while the University of Georgia reports $36.8 billion in direct visitor spending across Georgia in 2024. Atlanta’s airport, convention infrastructure, and lodging market provide useful measures of the scale and recent direction of that activity.
Contents
- Industry size and visitor volume
- Airport connectivity and economic reach
- Airport passengers, airlines, and cargo
- Hotels and lodging performance
- Visitor spending, jobs, and attractions
- Conventions and venue business
Industry size and visitor volume
ACVB describes Atlanta’s hospitality industry as worth $20 billion on its “About Us” page. A separate ACVB partner page gives a $16 billion figure. Because these are different figures from the same organization’s pages, they should be treated as distinct published descriptions rather than combined into a single total. The pages also use slightly different visitor wording: ACVB says the city generated an estimated 51 million visitors in 2024 on its “About Us” page and says it generates nearly 51 million visitors each year on its partner page.
ACVB was established in 1913 and describes itself as a private, not-for-profit destination organization. It works with more than 850 member organizations. That membership model reflects the breadth of Atlanta hospitality: hotels, restaurants, attractions, transportation providers, event businesses, and other visitor-facing organizations all participate in the destination ecosystem.
The visitor information center managed by ACVB is in Centennial Olympic Park. Its listed telephone number is 404-521-6569. This is a physical visitor-service point in the downtown area, alongside Atlanta’s larger network of convention, entertainment, lodging, and transportation assets.
Airport connectivity and economic reach
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is 10 miles from downtown Atlanta and covers 4,700 acres. Its terminal complex measures about 7.7 million square feet. The airport has 155 domestic gates and 43 international gates, giving it a large operating footprint for a city whose hospitality industry depends on both domestic and international arrivals.
ATL serves more than 150 U.S. destinations and more than 70 international destinations in 43 countries. The ATL Fact Sheet says the airport is within a two-hour flight of 80% of the U.S. population. This geographic reach helps explain why Atlanta can function as a meeting destination as well as a leisure gateway.
The airport averages 286,000 passengers per day and 2,100 arrivals and departures daily, according to the ATL Fact Sheet. ATL’s Plane Train consists of eleven four-car trains operating on a three-mile loop track. It carries more than 200,000 passengers per day on average, connecting the airport’s concourses within the terminal complex.
ATL is also a major employment and economic asset. The ATL Fact Sheet identifies it as Georgia’s largest employer, with more than 63,000 employees, and reports a $34.8 billion economic impact for metro Atlanta. An ATL press release on the world’s busiest airport reports annual direct economic impact of $66 billion in Georgia. These figures use different geographies and impact definitions, so they are not additive: one refers to metro Atlanta, while the other refers to direct impact in Georgia.
Airport passengers, airlines, and cargo
ATL served 108.1 million passengers in 2024, the second-highest annual passenger volume in the airport’s history. The ATL 2024 traffic release compares that figure with the 2019 record of 110 million passengers. Cargo operations increased by 6% in 2024 compared with 2023.
The December 2024 monthly report provides a closer look at one month of airport activity:
| December 2024 measure | Reported volume |
|---|---|
| Total passengers | 9,074,423 |
| Domestic passengers | 7,799,701 |
| International passengers | 1,274,722 |
| Freight and express cargo | 359,910 metric tons |
| Grand total cargo | 364,373 metric tons |
The same ATL Monthly Airport Traffic Report identifies the December passenger totals for individual airlines. Delta Air Lines carried 6,602,842 passengers, followed by Southwest Airlines with 609,102, Frontier Airlines with 340,776, Spirit Airlines with 246,851, American Airlines with 192,466, and United Airlines with 157,113.
Airport facilities add further capacity for hospitality-related travel. ATL has more than 30,000 public parking spaces at its domestic and international terminals, including more than 3,500 spaces at the international terminal. Its rental car center opened in December 2009, covers 67.5 acres, and includes more than 8,700 parking spaces plus a 137,000-square-foot customer service center.
The ATL SkyTrain connects passengers in five minutes to the rental car center, the Georgia International Convention Center, hotels, and office buildings. Each trainset can carry 100 passengers plus baggage. These facilities support the movement of visitors after they land, linking airport activity to meetings, lodging, and downtown or regional travel.
Hotels and lodging performance
The University of Georgia’s 2026 Georgia Ag Forecast reports October 2025 hotel occupancy of 61.6%. Occupancy was down 2% year over year. Average daily rate (ADR) was $127.85, up 1.5% year over year, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) was $78.76.
| October 2025 lodging measure | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Occupancy | 61.6% |
| Year-over-year occupancy change | Down 2% |
| ADR | $127.85 |
| Year-over-year ADR change | Up 1.5% |
| RevPAR | $78.76 |
These measures describe different parts of hotel performance. Occupancy indicates the share of available rooms filled, ADR describes the average price for rooms sold, and RevPAR combines room availability and room revenue. The figures show a month in which the reported room rate increased even as occupancy softened.
The same UGA forecast projects Atlanta hotel rates to increase 2.9% in 2026. That is a forecast, not a recorded outcome. It should therefore be read separately from the October 2025 measured occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR figures.
UGA also reports that urban Georgia counties saw lodging demand soften by 0.7% in 2024. Coastal Georgia averaged over 63% occupancy in 2024 and recorded ADR above $155. Those statewide regional comparisons provide context, but they are not substitutes for Atlanta-specific hotel measures.
Visitor spending, jobs, and attractions
UGA reports that direct visitor spending in Georgia reached $36.8 billion in 2024. The total economic impact reached $82 billion, and the traveler economy supported 470,570 jobs. UGA says the traveler economy supports one out of every 15 jobs in Georgia. These statewide figures show the scale of travel-related activity surrounding Atlanta, while the ACVB figures describe Atlanta’s destination industry specifically.
Food and beverage spending is another measurable part of the visitor economy. UGA reports $6.96 billion in urban Georgia food and beverage expenditures in 2023 and $1.07 billion in rural Georgia food and beverage expenditures. The two categories describe different geographies and should not be presented as an Atlanta-only restaurant total.
State-managed attractions also contribute to the broader travel market. UGA reports 14.1 million visits to Georgia state parks, lodges, and historic sites in 2024. That total declined 0.99% from 2023. The measure covers statewide properties rather than Atlanta alone, but it provides a reference point for tourism activity across Georgia.
Airport concessions show how visitor movement translates into on-site commercial activity. ATL’s concessions program includes more than 386 outlets: 167 food and beverage locations, 140 retail and convenience stores, and 82 service-oriented outlets. These counts describe the airport’s operating mix and help distinguish food service, retail, and other passenger services within the terminal environment.
Conventions and venue business
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) reported that Atlanta ranked as the top domestic convention city for the third straight year in its February 27, 2024 board presentation. The evaluation used six categories. This ranking is a convention-market measure, not a count of all Atlanta visitors or a hotel occupancy result.
GWCCA’s January 2024 financial figures show $1,979,284 in actual revenue against a $1,445,423 budget. The revenue variance was reported as $534,000, or 36.9%. January expenses were $5,023,092 against a $4,495,759 budget, a variance of $527,000, or 11.7%. January net profit was -$3,043,808, compared with a budget of -$3,050,336.
Through January 2024, GWCCA reported year-to-date revenue of $33,294,423 versus a $26,181,441 budget. The reported revenue variance was $7.1 million, or 27.2%. Year-to-date expenses were $32,316,648 versus a $29,956,266 budget, a $2.4 million variance, or 7.9%. Year-to-date net profit was $977,775, compared with a budgeted loss of $3,774,825; GWCCA reported the net profit variance as $4.8 million.
The presentation also listed several FY24 business measures. Projected gross annual signage revenue was $1,761,719. Projected pre-brokerage contracted revenue was $655,796, while projected post-brokerage contracted revenue was $766,545. Projected secured new business was $81,200, and projected new business was $258,178. GWCCA also listed an FY24 new business goal of $339,378 and said its FY24 revenue growth goal was 3% plus $28,000 short of FY23.
Venue pricing and signage provide additional scale indicators. GWCCA listed a $250,000 event-day rental fee for Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with each additional load-in or load-out day costing $50,000. FY24 annual signage revenue included $56,812 for East Plaza, $369,281 for International Plaza/Red Deck, and $142,030 for Magnum Parking Deck. The presentation reported total COI from FY16 to FY27 of $4,721,644.