Hall County now is home to two of Georgia's three canopy tour companies, giving the county its piece of what tourism experts say is a booming business.

"Ecotourism and soft-adventure is growing as a niche nationally," said Stacey Dickson, president of the Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau. "... What we've got here is a couple of entrepreneurs that have seen an opportunity."

Lake Lanier Canopy Tours opened Nov. 20 at the Lake Lanier Island Resort in Buford. Currently, the site offers two tours, an express run lasting 30 minutes and a longer run which lasts 2 hours. They are in the process of developing a third "Sunset Cove Tour".

The first canopy tour company in the county, North Georgia Canopy Tours, opened in Lula in March and has already attracted 15,000 visitors and drawn national attention for their success.

"Zip lines and canopy tours are the rage," said Leah Watkins, owner North Georgia Canopy Tours. "They're incredibly fun and a lot of people are going into the business and entering the market."

Dickson said Northeast Georgia, with its beautiful tree canopy and lake views, is a perfect place for the popular zip-lining industry to expand.

"For a visitor that comes in and does the tour, it's a total immersion into the natural canopy of North Georgia," she said. "It's not a manufactured experience.

Shane Shullards, a co-owner of Lake Lanier Canopy Tours, said he first thought about opening a canopy tour site when clients at his corporate development and team building company voiced a desire for more
adventurous activities.

"The canopy tours really bridge all sorts of gaps that some of the team development things might have in the level of physicality," he said. "Anyone can do these tours. You've just got to have some low level of mobility required, walking some steps and things like that."

Dickson said the two canopy tour companies should complement each other well and attract different audiences.

North Georgia Canopy Tours provides beginner tours, but many of its programs last a few hours and would attract a zip-lining enthusiast, Dickson said. Lake Lanier Canopy Tours, on the other hand, is connected to a resort and offers shorter tours ranging from 30 minutes to two hours.

She said the two tours offer a good balance for tourism and will attract both casual and committed zip liners.

"It's kind of addictive and there are a lot of clubs ... that go in groups and travel all over and do the canopy tours," Dickson said.

Shullards said he hopes the nearby canopy tour companies can partner in the future to draw visitors by offering passes to several locations.

"It's kind of like a golfer. They want to play every course. And that's what these zip line enthusiasts do," he said.

Lake Lanier is drawing 8 million tourists a year to Hall County but there still aren't enough quality activities for visitors to take part in, Dickson said.

She said the success of North Georgia Canopy Tours has drawn attention from other segments of the tourism and hospitality industry who now want to expand to Hall County.

"More quality experiences like the canopy tours is what we need," she said. "... New product development like the canopy tours and all the things that are happening at the islands overall have been a catalyst to help us stick our head above the crowd and say, ‘Look over here.'"