Atlanta Tourism Chief Talks World Cup, $1 Million Deal With Michelin Guide

World Cup fans are going to need a home base as they follow their favorite teams across North America in 2026. A top contender is Atlanta, said Discover Atlanta CEO and President William Pate, who sits on the city’s hosting committee.

“Fans could end up staying in Atlanta, but traveling to different cities for other games,” said Pate.

Pate spoke with Skift about why Atlanta could be the home base for World Cup fans, the city's $1 million investment deal with the Michelin Guide, its new 1,000 convention room hotel downtown, and more.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

Skift: Discover Atlanta recently paid to have Michelin rate its restaurants— an expensive endeavor for tourism boards. What has been the return on investment?

William Pate:  We did a three-year deal with them. It's basically a million-dollar deal in order to be a part of the Michelin Guide. We're the seventh city in the United States to be selected.

We have a lot of chefs and chef-driven restaurants and 23 different cuisine types, but we really didn't feel like we were getting credit for that. We thought that associating our culinary theme with the Michelin brand would really be the opportunity that we were looking for to elevate the entire city's restaurant industry. 

We began discussions with Michelin before Covid. Interestingly enough, they were exploring Atlanta already as a potential Michelin city. As we came out of Covid, those conversations heated up again very quickly.

They've announced their first year and our restaurant community did really well. We had 45 total restaurants in the guide. Five got Michelin stars.