Based on last year’s hotel occupancy rates, Berkeley Young, president of Young Strategies Inc., believes downtown is prime for a new hotel.
With the Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater expected to open by spring 2027, bringing with it an influx of visitors from additional city events, a new hotel can accommodate that growth and also bring more attention to the Trotter Convention Center.
“You’re in a competitive game here, and the civic pride portion of your job is the work you’re doing in the community … building amphitheaters and things,” Young told the board. “… But when y’all get down … into marketing the destination, that’s when civic pride goes out the window. And now we’re in a competitive battle, and we’re just trying to get our piece of the pie. And so you’ve got to be very aggressive.”
During a workshop with the Columbus-Lowndes and Visitors Bureau board Thursday, Young presented several potential improvements for the CVB’s strategic plan based on survey results, including increasing social media marketing, expanding staff and collaborating with the Golden Triangle Development LINK to attract developments such as a new hotel and additional dining and entertainment options.
He also recommended regularly meeting with county and city leaders to guide future city improvements.
“You have strong fundamentals here. This is a nice town (and) It’s a good-looking town,” Young said. “You’ve got an attractive downtown. … But you don’t have what I call curated demand drivers.”
During the roughly three-hour-long presentation, Young presented information from 49 responses to the firm’s DestinationNext survey, which was sent March 30 to 150 event organizers, community leaders and public officials.
The survey included a 90-question assessment of surveyors’ perspectives on the area’s strengths and weaknesses in 24 categories, including health care, attractions and experiences, local mobility and outdoor recreation.
Young said the categories rated the weakest for the city were public transportation; attractions and experiences; and dining, shopping and entertainment options.
One way to address those weaknesses, Young said, is enticing growth among area ride-share providers and developing additional support for organic tourism, not just festivals.
“You’ve got a lot to support for a community of this size, and I always have to say this about events and festivals, y’all are open for business 365 days and nights every year,” Young said. “… And so festivals and events are critical for a town. They are like a pep rally. They bring everybody together. They show you off at your best. … But as a board, you have to remember, y’all have … got to make sure you got the funding for every night, and so just be careful.”
The strongest categories surveyed included events and festivals; outdoor recreation; sporting events; and arts, culture and heritage.
While the public view of these events is strong, Young said, having more cohesive social media marketing for events in the city and county could help bring in even more tourists.
“I think y’all have an opportunity to do a better job of saying, ‘This is who we are and come on in,’” he said.
Hotels thriving
Since April 2025, Young said 16 area hotels with about 1,200 rooms combined have booked about 62% of their rooms more than half of the year. Young said that Columbus’ hotel occupancy has been on the upswing since 2020 and is in prime shape to attract another large hotel and increase capacity.
“When (occupancy percentages are) hitting at 56%, hotel investors are not excited about the market, but now that you’re up here into the 60s, I guarantee you they’re all looking at you,” Young said. “And they’re all saying, ‘What can we put in that market?’”
Based on data from Costar, a comprehensive information service which collects commercial records, Columbus hotel and motel revenue increased in 2025 to nearly $31 million, a 8.2% jump from 2024.
Young said there has also been a recent jump in Airbnb and VRBO listings in the county. Currently, there are 91 active listings between the two agencies, which are producing an annual revenue of about $2,256,800, he said.
“Are these rental units competing with our hotels? And is that causing us a problem? Well, you’ve only got 91 rental units,” Young said. “A typical hotel has about 80 rooms … (the short-term rentals) do not make a significant dent in hotel revenues in most markets.”
Young said that extra space will also help give the city and its organizers room to develop additional events like sporting tournaments and additional conferences to try to address the lower occupancy months.
“(The Trotter is) a great facility, but there’s not a hotel anywhere close to it, and that significantly hurts their ability to bring in conferences and meetings,” Young said. “And I mean, y’all have hosted the state tourism conference there, and I’m sure it was a lot of work to coordinate who was in what hotel and getting them to the Trotter.”
Going forward, Young said one idea the board could consider in its strategic plan over the next five years is to coordinate with LINK leadership to entice additional business development, like a new hotel and other dining and entertainment options, to the region.
Young said he will return for the board’s next meeting May 26 to help develop specific goals for the next five years in its strategic plan.
Liz Terry, board president, said that based on the information Young presented, she expects the board to prioritize attracting a new hotel.
“I definitely think it’s something that we need to talk to the LINK about, I think that we need to get together and be specific about what it is that we’d like to see the LINK do,” Terry said. “And, of course, be ready to show them how this is going to benefit the community.”
During the board’s regular meeting prior to the workshop, it approved allocating $15,000 for the development of the Alva Temple Museum documentary, which will be featured at the Columbus-Lowndes County Airport.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
