The Artesian Alliance, which includes Chehaw Park & Zoo, the Flint RiverQuarium and Thronateeska, received the Bill Hardman Sr. Partnership Champion Award at the recent Georgia Tourism Awards ceremony in Albany February 14, 2023. The Georgia Tourism Awards are the leading awards for the travel and tourism industry in Georgia honoring tourism excellence around the state. The awards were presented at the annual tourism industry conference of the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (GACVB) hosted by the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Partnership Champion Award is given to an alliance that collaborates to increase visitation and tourism expenditures in Georgia. In presenting the award, Jerry Brown, Executive Director at Alpine Helen Convention and Visitors Bureau, noted that the collaboration of the Artesian Alliance partners has led to joint programming efforts, greater operating efficiencies and cost containment, as well as a more effective use of limited resources for all three organizations.

“When missions, visions, and goals align, successful partnerships are born,” he said. “These three tourism entities experienced just that when they partnered under the shared mission of bringing more and new visitors to the community. Together, they have acted as a mighty force.”

He went on to note accomplishments of the collaboration, including the creation of an endowment to provide financial resources to support the Alliance’s collective missions of educational outreach and conservation, the adoption of a strategic plan which includes renovations and new exhibits for each property, and the successful lobbying for inclusion in the new list of SPLOST projects.

Artesian Alliance Executive Director Tommy Gregors received the award on behalf of the Alliance.

“We are proud and honored to be recognized as Partnership Champions for the state of Georgia,” he said. “Our three organizations are much stronger together than individually. Chehaw, the Flint RiverQuarium and Thronateeska have all brought their best to the table since we formed the Alliance in 2020. Community leaders and our supporters know that smart growth means enhanced opportunities for prosperity, and we look forward to carrying out a slate of new initiatives that will lead us into the future.”