Visitors spent $330 million in Athens last year, up 6.6%, accounting for nearly 3,000 jobs and over $22 million in tax revenue, saving the average local taxpayer $488, the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau announced at a hospitality industry awards banquet Oct. 27 at the Classic Center.

The CVB’s Partner of the Year was Russell Stalvey, brewery events business manager at Terrapin Beer Co. The Classic Host Award went to Jean Lord, event manager at UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, who has brought numerous conventions to Athens. Piedmont College President James Mellichamp won the Louis Griffith Hospitality Leadership Award. The CVB also honored Valencia Landry, a server at Hotel Indigo, as the city’s front-line hospitality employee of the year.