In 2016, Visit Savannah is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a convention and visitors bureau. Visit Savannah is the largest business unit of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, which established the convention and visitors bureau in 1976 as part of its effort to solicit conventions and work on behalf of tourism.
 
“It is hard to imagine that anyone sitting in the inaugural meeting of Visit Savannah forty years ago could have known the profound impact this organization would have on the cities of Savannah and Tybee Island,” said Greg Kelly, Visit Savannah chairman and executive director of the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. “The dramatic growth of Savannah as a premier leisure visitor destination can be traced back to the foresight of those individuals.”
 
The organization has reached many milestones during its history. These include the decision made in 1980 to use hotel/motel tax for tourism-related marketing; Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure’s first rankings of Savannah as a top ten city to visit in 1993 and 1995, respectively; the launches of several major branding campaigns in 2001, 2006 and 2013; and the formal name change to Visit Savannah from the Savannah Area Convention & Visitors Bureau in 2010.
 
The past 40 years have culminated in record-breaking tourism numbers for the Savannah area in 2015. Savannah has grown from having 1.3 million visitors in 1977 to more than 13.1 million. Direct spending from tourism has also increased from $60.8 million in Visit Savannah’s first year to more than $2.5 billion.
 
"Our staff and board of directors is very proud of this organization’s growth and development in its 40 years.  Contributing to Savannah and Chatham County's economic prosperity is what drives us day after day after day,” said Joseph Marinelli, Visit Savannah president.