Atlanta Becomes Major Draw for Educational Events and Meetings

July 15, 2014
Rachel Wimberly
Educational meetings are becoming a major piece of business for Atlanta, with 8 percent of their total bookings currently in this sector and that number is expected to rise in the future. The latest educational meeting to come to town was the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which had a record-breaking number of attendee registrants for their annual Conference and Expo, held June 28-July 1 at the Georgia World Congress Center. ISTE 2014 drew 16,039 registered attendees, representing an increase of 2,500 registrants, compared with their previous record. ISTE will return to Atlanta for their 2022 meeting, alongside several other educational meetings and events heading to the city. During the past nine months, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau has booked 90 educational groups for future years. By 2016, the educational sector is expected to grow to 14 percent of total bookings, making it the second largest industry segment in Atlanta. “Metro Atlanta is an intellectual hub with a vibrant community of educators and innovators,” said William Pate, president and CEO, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. He added, “Atlanta’s large concentration of academic, technical and cultural institutions, ease of access, and overall affordability make our city a natural choice for educational meetings and conventions.” Recent bookings include the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, which will bring their 71st Annual Conference & Exhibits to Atlanta for the first time in 2016. The National Association for the Education of Young Children, which last held a meeting in Atlanta in 2012, will return in 2017. The following year, National Science Teachers Association will head back to Atlanta for its annual conference and Distributive Education Clubs of America will return to the city for the third time.

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