A Georgia state agency is awarding $200,000 in grants to 23 Georgia municipalities, museums and other attractions that work to draw tourists to the state.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development selected the grant winners from a total of 82 applicants statewide seeking more than $1.2 million in requests.

The money will go to support tourism development in cities such as Ringgold, Sylvester and Thomasville as well as to attractions such as Horse Creek Winery in Nashville and the Tubman African-American Museum in Macon.

State tourism officials say applications for the grants more than doubled compared to a year ago.

Recipients of the 2012 Tourism Product Development Grants include:
Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association (Fannin County)
Clayton County
Dalton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Horse Creek Winery (Nashville)
City of Homerville
Carroll County Board of Commissioners
Flannery O'Conner-Andalusia Foundation (Milledgeville)
Carrollton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
City of Sylvester
Friends of Downtown Americus
City of Thomasville
City of Ringgold
Springfield Revitalization Corp.
Chattooga County
Sautee Nacoochee Community Center
Lafayette Society for the Performing Arts (LaGrange)
Phoenix Academy Theatre, Inc. (Avondale Estates)
Tubman African American Museum (Macon)
City of Moultrie
Aurora Theatre, Inc. (Lawrenceville)
Springer Opera House (Columbus)
Atlanta Preservation Center

Tags: tourism, Department of Economic Development, tourism grants