With five professional sports teams, more than 200 entertainment and cultural attractions and thousands of restaurants, Atlanta can best be described as �exciting, entertaining and enjoyable.�

Atlanta has long been known as a prime site for meetings, conventions and trade shows and is consistently ranked as one of the top five convention cities in the country. Atlanta earned this reputation with its first-class hotels, transportation and meeting facilities, and continues to host more than 3,100 conventions annually, bringing more than 3.5 million visitors to the city.

Atlanta is much more than a meeting destination. The city has developed into the entertainment and cultural center of the South with more than 17 million visitors arriving each year to experience the abundance of attractions, culture and entertainment.

Why has this southern city become a hot spot for culture and entertainment? Simply stated, Atlanta has more restaurants, professional sports teams, entertainment venues and cultural attractions than any other city in the Southeast. Many of these attractions are within 10 minutes of downtown and almost all are accessible via MARTA, Atlanta�s rapid rail and bus system.

Atlanta is Exciting With world-class sporting venues and world-class sports teams, it is with good reason that Atlanta has earned the title of �Sports Capital of the World.� Whether you�re seeking the finest in collegiate, amateur or professional athletics, Atlanta has plenty of world-class sports teams and world-class venues to entertain and excite any fan visiting any time of year.

The Georgia Dome is home for several annual collegiate football tournaments including the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Heritage Bowl, the National Championship of Black College Football, and the Atlanta Football Classic, which features historically African-American colleges and universities and draws crowds of more than 52,000 football fans each fall. The 1996 Centennial Olympic Stadium has been reconstructed to house the Atlanta Braves, while the Atlanta Thrashers call the newly constructed Philips Arena home.

Some of the world�s top sports team call Atlanta home and, in turn, some of Atlanta�s venues are recognized as some of the world�s best sporting venues. Atlanta boasts five professional sports teams, including the 1995 MLB World Series Champion Atlanta Braves, the NFL Atlanta Falcons, the NHL Atlanta Thrashers, the NBA Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta�s newest professional team, the AFL Georgia Force.

Atlanta is Entertaining World-class restaurants, festive nightlife and an abundance of cultural attractions and events help make Atlanta the center for entertainment in the South. Atlanta�s diverse restaurants feature cuisine from around the globe prepared by world-renowned chefs and served in an endless array of ambience and d�cor.

Culture is prominent in Atlanta. Atlanta is home to world-class museums including the High Museum of Art, SciTrek -- the science and technology museum, and Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Atlanta is also home to many performing arts theaters such as the Alliance Theatre, The Fox Theatre, Rialto Theatre for Performing Arts and Woodruff Arts Center.

To thoroughly enjoy Atlanta�s present, all one has to do is experience the city�s past. From Atlanta�s role in the Civil War to the celebration of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, Atlanta�s historical attractions, such as the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta Cyclorama, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, Georgia�s Stone Mountain Park and the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, promise a day filled with education and entertainment.

Atlanta is Enjoyable Atlanta is blessed with a mild climate and southern hospitality is plentiful throughout the city and evident in the friendly ambassador force that patrols the streets of downtown. Since 1996, the uniformed Ambassador Force has served as a direct link to the Atlanta Police Department and as a friendly information source for visitors and residents.

Atlanta is also enjoyable because of its affordable hotels and convenient location. The city has more than 700 hotel properties and 88,000 hotel rooms designed to accommodate any budget. Atlanta�s hotels offer the finest in service and amenities.

Atlanta is accessible, with 80 percent of the U.S. population within a two-hour flight of the city. From the heart of downtown, visitors can reach Atlanta�s many attractions, entertainment venues, restaurants and neighborhoods within a short ride by cab, bus or rail. Furthermore, Atlanta�s rapid rail and bus system, MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Transit Authority), has 38 stations and 154 bus routes covering the metropolitan area at a cost of $1.75.

Atlanta Attractions Attendance for 2002

2002 Attendance Adult Admission Atlanta Botanical Garden 170,000 $10 Atlanta Cyclorama 170,000 $6 Atlanta History Center 140,000 $12 Atlanta Motor Speedway 500,000 varies with event Centennial Olympic Park 2 million no charge Center for Puppetry Arts 233,813 varies with performance CNN Center 2.2 million $8 for studio tour Fernbank Museum of Natural History 301,076 $12 Fox Theatre 771, 618 varies with performance Georgia Dome 1.2 million varies with event High Museum of Art 350,000 $8 Lake Lanier Islands 700,000 $7 per car Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site 657,316 no charge Philips Arena 2.5 million varies with event Piedmont Park 2.5 million free SciTrek 150,000 $9.50 Six Flags Over Georgia will not disclose $39.99 Six Flags White Water will not disclose $29.99 Stone Mountain Park 4 million $7 per car The World of Coca-Cola Atlanta 750,000 $6 Turner Field and Braves Museum 3.4 million $8 Underground Atlanta 6 million no charge Woodruff Arts Center 2 million varies with event Zoo Atlanta 695,373 $16.50 Source: Atlanta area attractions

Atlanta has... � 130 retail centers � 57 public golf courses � 54 public parks � 100 streets with the name Peachtree � largest toll-free telephone dialing area in the world (7,000 square miles of toll-free calling) � largest suburban office park in the United States, Perimeter Center (3.5 million square feet of office and retail space on 400 acres) � largest cable-supported domed stadium in North America, the Georgia Dome � 14th largest mall in the country � The Mall of Georgia � world�s largest bas-relief sculpture and the world�s largest exposed mass of granite at Georgia�s Stone Mountain Park � largest federal regional concentration outside of Washington, D.C. � largest 10K race in the world, the annual Peachtree Road Race with 50,000 runners � oldest continually operating ballet company in the nation, the Atlanta Ballet since 1929 � longest escalator in the Southeast at MARTA�s Peachtree Center station, 192 feet � largest unsupported escalator in the Southeast at CNN Center, 8 stories tall � largest hotel in the Southeast, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 1,671 rooms � tallest hotel in the western hemisphere, the Westin Peachtree Plaza, 73 stories; 723 feet tall � tallest building in the Southeast, Bank of America Plaza, 55 stories; 1,023 feet tall � second-largest theater organ in the nation, at the Fox Theatre � more shopping center space per capita than any other U.S. city except Chicago

Established in 1913, the ACVB is a private, non-profit organization created exclusively to market metro Atlanta and Georgia as the premier conventions, meetings and leisure destination in the regional, national and international marketplace, and favorably impact the Atlanta economy through conventions and tourism.

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Media contact: Brandy Humphries +1 404-521-6645 bhumphries@atlanta.net