Southern states hoping vacationers will stick close to home

TALLULAH FALLS - Wayne Bell&#39;s weekend getaway to a state park may be just what a $1 million advertising campaign was designed to inspire. <br> <br> The Cherokee County native wanted to take his daughter, Erin, on a weekend getaway. But instead of heading out of state, they took a short drive to north Georgia&#39;s Tallulah Gorge State Park. <br> <br> ``We only had two nights, and we love the mountains,&#39;&#39; Bell said. <br> <br> State tourism officials are hoping a lot more summer travelers will think like Bell. In response to Sept. 11 and the resulting decrease in air travel, tourism workers fretted that Georgia&#39;s attractions would suffer with fewer visitors from the north. <br> <br> The answer: Replace the missing Yankees with locals. <br> <br> Janis Cannon oversaw a $1 million ad campaign aimed at keeping Georgians close to home when they vacation. <br> <br> ``You don&#39;t have to travel to another state to experience culture and history,&#39;&#39; said Cannon, state deputy commissioner of tourism. ``You can do everything there is to do right here in Georgia.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The move appears to be paying off. Georgia saw a 129 percent increase in the number of in-state residents calling for information about attractions. <br> <br> ``All states changed how they market after 9/11,&#39;&#39; said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry Association of America. ``They pulled their national advertising and went to regional and state markets.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> So even as Georgia is wooing other Southerners to fill hotels, nearby states are doing the same thing. <br> <br> South Carolina&#39;s state government borrowed $2 million from its 2003 budget in order to start an advertising campaign targeting out-of-staters. <br> <br> ``We didn&#39;t want to run the risk of seeing a downturn in our No. 1 industry, which is tourism,&#39;&#39; said Marion Edmonds, director of communications for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. <br> <br> South Carolina officials bought ads in magazines and on television channels, hawking every aspect of their state. <br> <br> In October of 2001, North Carolina launched a campaign called ``Discover the state you&#39;re in.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> And it&#39;s not always a state-sponsored ad that catches the eye, said Dirke Von Hollen, vice president of sales for the Savannah Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. <br> <br> ``We&#39;ve actually had a V-shaped recovery after the events of Sept. 11,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We were certainly down in September and October. But our travel to Savannah was up in November, December and January. A lot of that has to do with us shifting our focus to regional markets.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Georgia tourism officials are also touting a Spanish-language visitors guide to draw visitors from the booming Hispanic populations in North Carolina and Florida. <br> <br> From the burgers and fries of ``el Varsity&#39;&#39; to golfing at ``Los Masters,&#39;&#39; Georgia&#39;s tourism officials say ``El Estado del Durazno,&#39;&#39; or ``The Peach State&#39;&#39; makes an easier sell to Hispanics when presented in Spanish.