Connections - Summer 2017 - 16

>

/Win Week
A
Win
for Restaurants and Their Customers

BY MARY LOU JAY
MIDSUMMER IS USUALLY a slow
time for restaurants, but between
July 17 and 23 about 100 Georgia
restaurants did a brisk business.
Those eating establishments were
participating in Georgia Restaurant
Week, hosted by the Georgia
Restaurant Association (GRA) in
partnership with Explore Georgia,
the state's official tourism agency.
GRA serves as the voice for
advocacy, education and awareness
for restaurants in Georgia,
according to the association's CEO,
Karen Bremer, CAE. "We make
restaurants better for Georgians,
and we make Georgia a better
place for restaurants," she says.
Georgia Restaurant Week serves
both of those goals. It provides
the public with special deals
that enable them to try out new
and unfamiliar restaurants or

16

> Summer 2017

to revisit old favorites. It gives
restaurants the opportunity to
attract new guests and perhaps
convert them into long-term
customers and to entice their
regulars to come out and dine.
"It's a great way to promote
dining out and culinary tourism
in Georgia," says Rachel Bell,
GRA's director of marketing
and communications.

Encouraging Membership
Georgia Restaurant Week
started in 2015, when the
Georgia Department of Economic
Development, which was heavily
promoting Georgia foods that
year, requested GRA's assistance
in setting up a statewide program.
In its first year, Restaurant
Week attracted 70 participating
restaurants. In 2016 there were

100 restaurants, and GRA expects
to top that number in 2017.
Participation in Georgia
Restaurant Week is free for GRA's
500-plus corporate members,
who represent about 4,000
restaurants throughout the state.
Non-members pay $295 to register;
that also entitles them to a year's
membership in the association.
"Each year we have had a handful
of new restaurants that have signed
up. When they see the other benefits
of membership in the association
they continue to renew it," says Bell.
As part of the registration,
restaurants must donate two
$50 gift cards that are used for
promotional purposes. "We will use
those with our media partners, we
will do social media promotions,
and Explore Georgia will help
us pair the gift cards with hotel
stays so that people can make
destinations out of dining in
Georgia restaurants," says Bell.
During Georgia Restaurant Week,
participating restaurants will offer
prix-fixe dinner menu items priced
at $15, $25 or $35 per person or per
couple-the restaurant chooses
its price point. The three-course
prix-fixe dinner must include an
appetizer or starter, entrée and
dessert, but restaurants can add
more food items if they choose. They
may also offer their regular menu
during this time and/or offer other
special deals.
Participating restaurants could
also opt to take advantage of a new
promotional scratch-off program
this year. They contributed to a
special pool of money used to cover
the costs of scratch-off cards that



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Connections - Summer 2017

GSAE News & Events
New Members
Living Legends: Lori K. Spear, CAE, Ragan Cohn, CAE, Karl Kirsch, CAE
A Win/Win Week for Restaurants and Their Customers
Meetings Thought Leadership
6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Media Coverage
Standing Out Among the Clutter
GSAE Rock Stars Gather in Macon for the 2017 Annual Meeting
Summer Luncheon
Destination spotlight: Savannah, Jekyll Island & St. Simons Island
Choices: A Taste for Online Groceries?
Advertiser.com
Index of Advertisers
Index of Advertisers/ Advertiser.com
Connections - Summer 2017 - Intro
Connections - Summer 2017 - bellyband1
Connections - Summer 2017 - bellyband2
Connections - Summer 2017 - cover1
Connections - Summer 2017 - cover2
Connections - Summer 2017 - 3
Connections - Summer 2017 - 4
Connections - Summer 2017 - 5
Connections - Summer 2017 - GSAE News & Events
Connections - Summer 2017 - 7
Connections - Summer 2017 - 8
Connections - Summer 2017 - 9
Connections - Summer 2017 - 10
Connections - Summer 2017 - New Members
Connections - Summer 2017 - Living Legends: Lori K. Spear, CAE, Ragan Cohn, CAE, Karl Kirsch, CAE
Connections - Summer 2017 - 13
Connections - Summer 2017 - 14
Connections - Summer 2017 - 15
Connections - Summer 2017 - A Win/Win Week for Restaurants and Their Customers
Connections - Summer 2017 - 17
Connections - Summer 2017 - 18
Connections - Summer 2017 - Meetings Thought Leadership
Connections - Summer 2017 - 6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Media Coverage
Connections - Summer 2017 - 21
Connections - Summer 2017 - Standing Out Among the Clutter
Connections - Summer 2017 - 23
Connections - Summer 2017 - GSAE Rock Stars Gather in Macon for the 2017 Annual Meeting
Connections - Summer 2017 - 25
Connections - Summer 2017 - 26
Connections - Summer 2017 - Summer Luncheon
Connections - Summer 2017 - Destination spotlight: Savannah, Jekyll Island & St. Simons Island
Connections - Summer 2017 - Choices: A Taste for Online Groceries?
Connections - Summer 2017 - Index of Advertisers/ Advertiser.com
Connections - Summer 2017 - cover3
Connections - Summer 2017 - cover4
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