Georgia Aquarium bringing more business to Atlanta

<p>Hotels in the city have seen a more steady flow of guests since the opening of the Georgia Aquarium.</p><p>Aquarium officials expect to have seen 3.6 million visitors by the time of its one-year anniversary later this week. And the aquarium's success has also helped downtown businesses around it.</p><p>"No one anticipated the level of success that the aquarium has brought to downtown," said Lauren Jarrell, spokeswoman for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, which is responsible for selling the city to conventioneers and tourists. "It brought more visitors downtown, filled our hotel rooms and gave investors a reason to believe that the climate is ripe to move their investment into the market."</p><p>Mike Sullivan, spokesman for the Omni Hotel at CNN, said the hotel has been surprised by the number of aquarium packages it has sold.</p><p>"We thought we would see a lot of activity in the summertime when schools were out, but we sold close to 200 packages a month year-round," Sullivan said.</p><p>As of October, more than 2,000 individuals and families have spent $240 to $290 for an Omni deal that includes tickets to the aquarium, an overnight stay at the nearby hotel, breakfast and aquarium-related goodies.</p><p>The aquarium's success also is helping fast-track $2.5 billion in new investment in downtown Atlanta, which includes hotels, residential units and retail, said A.J. Robinson, president of the downtown business group Central Atlanta Progress. At a meeting last week, Robinson gave the building industry a summary of downtown Atlanta and where it's going. Atlanta, which has always had strong convention demand, now has a tourism destination to match.</p><p>"Our whole community is awash in a new attitude and optimism," Robinson said, giving the credit to the aquarium.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cda5b4)</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc80c)</p>