Newnan, Georgia |
From the Newnan-Coweta Newcomer's Guide, August 9, 1998
Coweta County's Welcome Center has greeted more than 11,000 guests through mid-1998 including newcomers and tourists alike.
Located on a grassy knoll at 100 Walt Sanders Memorial Drive in the Whitlock Recreation Complex off Georgia Highway 34 East, the Welcome Center is the first contact many people have with Coweta County.
The center's guest register shows a global microcosm with visitors from 19 foreign countries and 48 states.
The Coweta County Welcome Center is an official Georgia Local Welcome Center and, as such, acts as the distribution center for the official Coweta County brochure, a 16-page guide to what the county has to offer as well as 262 other pamphlets from across the county and around the state. Georgia brochures include points of interest, foreign language and African-American brochures. Local information includes the most up to date map of Coweta County and its cities as well as historic driving tour information for Newnan, Grantville, Moreland and Senoia.
Other local information is available concerning lodging, eateries and shopping. Groups wanting to visit can take advantage of tour services. Visitors to the center can receive special coupons and gift bags and pick up a souvenir to remember their trip to Coweta County.
The Center includes a "Community Room" which highlights specific communities, activities and attractions in Coweta. The "Community Room" also features a video highlighting the county's many offerings.
The Welcome Center has quickly become an important stop for newcomers to Coweta County. In response to this, the center includes vital newcomer information concerning the school system, real estate and rentals, utilities and other newcomer needs.
Angela White, Executive Director of the Coweta County Convention and Visitors Bureau, oversees the Welcome Center's operation and encourages everyone to stop by and see what the county has to offer.
"The Welcome Center is seeing more and more guests each year," says White, "due in large part to the efforts of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, a group of volunteers who decide the direction advertising and publicity for our county will take."
That direction has resulted in the Welcome Center receiving more than 67,000 requests for information through mid-1998.
Tourists are being encouraged to visit Coweta County in publications such as Southern Living; Preservation, the official magazine for the National Trust for Historic Preservation; the Georgia U.S. 27 Travel Guide; Southern Living Vacations and Georgia On My Mind. F.A.M. Media Tours and the Georgia International Marketing Alliance feature Coweta through a cooperative effort with Harris, Troup and Meriwether Counties. That same alliance also makes it possible for Coweta County to be advertised in Reader's Digest and the AAA Going Places Magazine.
The County's "Historic Treasures, Famous Folk and Ageless Hospitality" are made known through a number of travel industry trade shows including Group Leaders of America, Leisure Travel, Snowbird Extravaganza, the Cincinnati Travel Show, Southeast Tourism Association and Travel Writers.
The Welcome Center involves itself locally by taking part in numerous community projects such as parades and special events. This year also sees the center hosting the International Red Carpet Tour and the upcoming Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce Community Service Fair Sept. 22.
The Coweta County Welcome Center is funded through a special hotel-motel tax as well as funds provided by the state based on the number of visitors to the center.
The Welcome Center is open seven days per week: 9-5 Monday through Saturday and 1-5 on Sunday.
To contact the Welcome Center you can call 770-254-2629 or 770-254-2627
locally, or if you are out of town you can call toll-free at 1-800-8-COWETA
(1-800-826-9382).