DUBLIN — The city of Dublin is still feeling a little lucky after Saint Patrick's Day because of a recent spike in tourism. We found out how the Dublin Visitors Center is using all their resources to attract people to the Emerald City.
Rain did not stop customers from rushing into the Company Supply in Dublin. General manager Andy Neumann described the business as "booming" for the past three months.
"It really has been nuts. We've had a lot of people coming through, people coming from Milledgeville, Statesboro, Macon, just kind of coming to Dublin," Neumann said.
According to the Dublin Visitors Center assistant director Miriam Ponton, 3,000 people visit the center each month. Ponton said when "Visit Dublin" started in 2012, they started utilizing new techniques to attract tourists.
"Social media -- I mean, everybody is on social media -- and there is so many venues. We have Snapchat, we have two different Instagrams for Visit Dublin and the Visitors Center, Facebook, Twitter," Ponton said.
That engagement on social media helped double the occupancy rates for hotels from 2001, and according to Ponton, partnering with the local restaurants also attracts tourists to Dublin.
"Every guest that comes through, we try to tell them a little about Dublin, and everyone loves food, so, you know, of course a restaurant is a good way to let everyone know what we have going on," Ponton said.
Visit Dublin has no plans of slowing down, with plans to add billboards along I-16, and with each new visitor, Ponton said they will be there to welcome them.
"Because we love our travelers, so it's awesome for us to hear those stories, that they went in town and get that experience we want them to have, that we want everybody to have," Ponton said.
Visit Dublin also credits the opening of new attractions such as the Martin Luther King monument in helping increase tourism.