CORDELE — Friends of Georgia State Parks, SAM Shortline Chapter has been awarded a $20,000 cooperative tourism marketing grant by the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Division.

SAM Shortline Executive Director Kathy Odom said the funds will be used to produce marketing materials and advertise the train’s excursions in various publications.

According to a press release from the Department of Economic Development, the purpose of the cooperative tourism marketing grants is to assist communities in reaching a larger audience through marketing projects they may not be able to fund on their own.

Independent judges scored the 82 applications that were received based on economic impact, project goals and objectives, benefit to the community, positive impact and the ability to attract and service visitors.

A total of $500,000 was awarded to 41 applicants across the state.

Kevin Langston, assistant commissioner for tourism says, “the co-op program is a great example of the private and public sectors working together to leverage one another’s assets.

“By combining our resources, we are able to attract additional visitors to our communities thereby generating private sector revenues along with additional sales and lodging tax revenues.”

For its total marketing budget, SAM Shortline also is receiving revenue from ticket sales, several billboards, a number of brochures and three governing and business entities including City of Americus, Americus Downtown Development Authority and Cordele Downtown Business Organization.

In her application, Odom said the Friends chapter plans to provide route maps for all businesses along the Presidential Pathways corridor, to 69 welcome centers and 11 state visitor centers.

Maps also will be given to local area motels and all five Georgia State Park lodges. In addition, SAM Shortline promotional key cards to enter motel rooms at those lodges and at three local motels will be provided.

Other promotional materials include survey cards, luggage tags and SAM logos.

Odom said, “We have the capacity to sell 338 tickets per excursion. Our current average is 241 visitors.” Adding almost 100 visitors for each excursion will not increase expenses, she explained, because costs remain the same regardless of the number of passengers.

Her immediate goal is to increase ridership by 10 percent. “Increased visitation, especially by new visitors will largely impact the region over time,” Odom says, “since SAM is known for creating repeat visitation.”

SAM Shortline’s marketing initiatives which will cost a total of $54,000 between November 2009 and April 2010 are expected to have almost a $1.2 million economic impact on the Crisp and Sumter county areas.