Georgia World Congress Center is governed by a state agency called Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The Authority was created by the Georgia General Assembly in1971, when state leaders recognized that Atlanta needed a major convention facility to compete with other large cities for national trade shows and business conventions. Lawmakers established the Authority as a state agency with a specific mission: to build and operate a convention center that would attract visitors, generate economic activity, and strengthen Georgia’s tourism industry.
Today, Georgia World Congress Center Authority oversees a campus of more than 200 acres that includes several major venues. At its center is Georgia World Congress Center, one of the largest convention facilities in the United States with more than one million square feet of exhibit space and nearly four million square feet of total building area.
The Authority also owns and operates Centennial Olympic Park, the 22-acre public park created as a gathering place during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and now one of Atlanta’s most visited civic spaces.
Adjacent to the park is Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the home of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United, which replaced the Georgia Dome after its demolition in 2017.
The campus also includes Signia by Hilton Atlanta, a convention headquarters hotel connected directly to the Georgia World Congress Center and designed to support large conventions and events.
Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) is a self-sustained state agency in Atlanta that manages one of the largest combined convention, sports, and entertainment campuses in North America. Established in 1971 by the Georgia General Assembly, it drives major economic impact through its venues, tourism, and urban development initiatives across downtown Atlanta.
