Being interested in Business and Travel offers a chance to look at some interesting destinations around the world. I have been lucky to visit a fair amount over the last few years, and I do have an ambition to visit all of the alpha and beta cities on the world city list, which is also sometimes referred to as the global cities list.
One such busy and important city is one not perhaps too familiar to Europeans: Atlanta.
Atlanta, Georgia is the ‘capital’ of the South. It has a population of some 432,000 people, however the greater Atlanta area is home to over 5 million people.
Atlanta was immortalised in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, and the resulting 1939 Oscar winning film starring Clark Gable and Viven Leigh. You can visit the author’s house in Atlanta.
Atlanta is home to some of the world’s most famous businesses.
Most famous of all is Coca Cola. They have an excellent attraction called the World of Coca Cola which is well worth a visit. When you get to the drinks from around the world, please try Beverley, from Italy. And after you have, spend a few minutes watching other people also.
Coca Cola were one of the main backers of Atlanta’s successful bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, which at the time was a shock considering the home of the Games, Athens, was on course to celebrate the centenary of the modern Olympics.
Across the street from World of Coca Cola is the incredible Georgia Aquarium, where you will see Whale Sharks – which were airlifted in from Japan. These creatures are massive and the star attraction.
The Aquarium – the world’s largest indoor aquarium - is home to many different types of sea animals, and is well worth a visit.
Atlanta is also the home of the Cable News Network, better known to you and I as CNN. When I was there we did the Inside CNN Tour, and again it was pretty interesting and fun to see just how the news is made. A lot of people don’t know that CNN owe their success to a terrible tragedy. In 1986, shuttle launches were becoming routine, so many networks didn’t cover them. CNN, who were a fledgling news company did. And they were there when the tragic events of Challenger unfolded.
Anyone interested in the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement can visit the Cyclorama and Civil War museum, near Atlanta Zoo, and also visit the house where Dr Martin Luther King Jnr was raised in his childhood.
Atlanta is also home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has been made famous by films and TV like Outbreak and The Walking Dead.
The city is served by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is one of the busiest in the world.
Atlanta is naturally a world city or a global city. It is in the alpha - category and it is estimated its gross domestic product is in the region of $270 million.
When it comes to sports, Atlanta is home to the Hawks (Basketball), Braves (Baseball) and Falcons (American Football). And for golf fans, the home of the US Masters, Augusta National is just over a 2 hour drive.
I think that it is an often overlooked city when it comes to non-US tourists, but it certainly has a lot to offer.
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