Tourism is an important part of economic development, and Dunwoody is drawing more visitors to the city every year. This helps our hotels, restaurants, and retail. It also boosts our budget, allowing the city to invest in important projects.

Hotels

Dunwoody currently has nine hotels with 2100 rooms, and a tenth hotel with 145 rooms is under construction. The Element Hotel by Westin celebrated its topping off last month. It’s part of Campus 244, a mixed-use development overlooking I-285 along Perimeter Center Parkway NE.

After a steep decline due to COVID, hotel occupancy rates and revenue have bounced back and now exceed 2019 numbers. In a recent presentation to Dunwoody City Council, Discover Dunwoody Executive Director Ray Ezelle said that Dunwoody led the state – yes, the state - in room revenue growth, occupancy growth, and room demand in 2023. This was coming off a strong year in 2022, and it’s a trend that’s continuing in 2024.

Discover Dunwoody

The success of our hotels is driven by Discover Dunwoody, the city’s official destination marketing organization with a mission to highlight all that makes Dunwoody the right choice for those who visit. Funding for Discover Dunwoody comes from 3.5 cents of every dollar of the city’s 8-cent hotel occupancy tax, which is paid by visitors. The remaining 4.5 cents-per-dollar go to the City. I'll go into more detail later in this newsletter.

In addition to focusing on hotel stays, group sales and events, Discover Dunwoody implemented a new film strategy last year to capitalize on the recent opening of Assembly Studios, which has 19 new state-of-the-art sound stages across 43 acres. It’s located at Assembly Atlanta, the site of the former General Motors Assembly Plant in Doraville that closed in 2008. As many as 4,000 production employees are expected on the site daily, and about 20 percent of them will be from out of town. This presents real opportunities for our hotels, restaurants, and retail. Discover Dunwoody is promoting “12 minutes from set to bed” to encourage crew members to stay here.

City investments

The dramatic rebound in Dunwoody hotel bookings has created new opportunities for investment. The City of Dunwoody receives 3 cents of the 8-cent hotel occupancy tax for the General Fund. Another 1.5 cents are dedicated to tourism-related projects. In 2023, the City's portion of the hotel occupancy tax amounted to $3 million.

The new Ashford Dunwoody Path is funded with hotel/motel tax dollars. We broke ground on Phase 1 in front of Perimeter Mall last year. The project is designed to improve connectivity in the Perimeter with a new two-way, raised bicycle path, a wider sidewalk, pedestrian streetlights, and landscaping. Phase II will eventually extend north on Ashford Dunwoody to Mt. Vernon Road.

I’m grateful to the Discover Dunwoody team for working so hard to promote this great city, and I’m excited to see Dunwoody grow as a true tourist destination. It’s a great time to live, work and visit here.