When you think “Columbia,” you may not think “international city.” But a unique program is bringing major international attention to Soda City.

Through the Global Ties U.S. program, S.C. has hosted 573 international leaders – making a $170,000+ economic impact on our state. Nationally, the program has hosted 18,125 international visitors to-date across 41 states, with a $57 million economic impact.

Columbia and Charleston are the only two S.C. cities that participate in the program. Here in Cola, participation is by way of nonprofit organizations Palmetto Council for International Visitors (PCIV) and the Columbia World Affairs Council (CWAC).

Some notable visitors to Columbia range from high-level policy advisors to the EU Parliament, an Italian Assistant Prosecutor, the Senior Policy Advisor to British Assistant Prime Minister and the Editor of The Economist – along with countless Mayors, City Administrators, City Council members, members of Parliament, Judges + more.

Women parliamentary leaders from Ukraine visiting with Katherine Swartz-Hilton and former president Beth Dinndorf at Columbia College | photo provided by the Columbia World Affairs Council

While in the U.S., international visitors will most likely travel to several participating cities during their 2-3 week-long trip – like San Francisco, NYC, Boston, etc. (after an orientation in Washington D.C.) – and more times than not, it’s reported back that Columbia is the favorite destination. Why? Our Southern hospitality, of course.

So, what do they do while they’re here? And why is this a big deal for our city? Click the button below to hear from an international visitor, himself.

How Columbia is becoming a beacon of diplomacy

PCIV (one of the nonprofits we mentioned earlier) has been hosting international visitors in Columbia since 1975, and CWAC (the other) has been partnering with PCIV since its beginning in 1993. Together, these organizations bring people here to learn more about topics of their field (like journalism, the rule of law, human trafficking, education, law enforcement + labor rights), as well as expose them to American culture.

As a whole, the Global Ties U.S. program – with the help of its local organizations in participating cities – helps form bridges between international visitors and their American professional peers by allowing them to interact one-on-one and form bonds on a more personal level. Visitors not only return home with more knowledge of their field, but with friendships and connections that grow outside of the program. The overall hope is that as these people become leaders in their countries, they’ll look to the U.S. for partnerships.

“My time in Columbia has created what I believe could be a lasting relationship between me and Columbians who I can learn so much from in our efforts to give Ghanaians a better life. They [PCIV and CWAC] made us feel very at home. I did not know much about Columbia before the visit but left with full knowledge of the historical links and the fact that there is already a Sister City relationship between Accra and Columbia.”

–Mr. John Sam Arthur, Brong-Ahafo Regional Manager, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, participant in the recent Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists – New
and Traditional Broadcast Media

How did Columbia become part of this program?

According to the State of the City address by Mayor Benjamin last year, Columbia residents speak more than 90 languages + represent over 200 nationalities.

Each year, Global Ties U.S. puts together hundreds of programs across the country. Cities across the U.S. select the program they know they’ll do a good job of hosting and apply to host that program, proving they have deep resources in a specific field. The international visitors are selected to come by our in-country American embassies (i.e. an embassy will pick the top journalists of their country to come to the U.S. + learn about our journalism approaches).

In 2018, Columbia hosted 8 programs – with ~7-8 visitors per group. Some of the programs Cola has hosted include Integrity in Journalism – New and Traditional Broadcast Media: A Project for India; Access to Justice – Legal Aid and Clinical Legal Education: A program for Ethiopia; Labor Rights and Economic Development: A program for Georgia; and Entrepreneurship: A program for Russia.

Columbia has so many vast resources, including all of state government; a major university with its medical, legal + engineering schools (as well as six other colleges and universities); a
major military training base; SEED resources; thriving innovation sector + entrepreneurs; a nationally recognized zoo; and a national park. Just to name a few reason why we’re an exciting host city.

What do the visitors do once they’re here?

During their visit, the international visitors have meetings with peers in their fields –like our local leaders, law enforcement, journalists, businessmen + women, education professionals, etc. It can even get as specific as meeting with the City to learn how they operate our water management system. Women entrepreneurship is very popular in Columbia, so our local programs work closely with WREN and Columbia College to get international visitors more information in that field.

Other entities around Cola are also extremely welcoming to these international visitors, like UofSC’s J-School and the Columbia Chamber (both of which take the time to have in-depth convos with these groups), WIS + WLTX TV stations (who bring visitors into their studios to show + tell about our media) and entrepreneurial networking group 1 Million Cups (which often serves an inspiration for them). Here at COLAtoday, we got to meet with the Swedish editor group that visited SOCO BullStreet earlier this month and tell them about our new-media business model.

Journalists from India with WISTV’s Dawndy Mercer Plank | photo provided by the Columbia World Affairs Council

They also get to do fun things like go to Columbia Fireflies games and visit Riverbanks Zoo, Columbia Museum of Art and Soda City to see our city + meet people of the community

Swedish editors Mrs. Karin Eriksson (Editor in Chief, Mariestads-Tidningen), Mrs. Kajsa Kettil (Political Editor, Jönköpings-Posten), Mr. Erik Daniel Persson (Editorial Writer, Swedish News Agency), Mrs. Lena Richardson (Editor in Chief, Filipsstads-Tidningen), Mr. Per Selstam (Editor in Chief, Swedish News Agency), Mr. Jacob Sidenvall (Editorial Writer, Smålandsposten), Mr. Jakob Styrenius (Editorial Writer, Västerviks-Tidningen) visit the Fireflies Stadium during a tour of the BullStreet District | photo provided by the Columbia World Affairs Council

“I particularly enjoyed the tour of the State House and the discovery of the historical links between Ghana and Columbia immortalized by the Slave Monument at State House. I had always known about the departure of slaves from Cape Coast and so it was awesome to see where they landed and the fact that it’s been acknowledged through the Monument.”

––Mr. John Sam Arthur

While in town (a visit is ~3-4 days, often over a weekend), they typically stay in a hotel, like Hotel Trundle – which is a great landing pad in the middle of the city to see Main St. + its historic preservation. If they’re here for a week, they’ll stay in a home with a host family – which is a great way for them to further get to know the people of Columbia.

If you’re interested in becoming a host family, or even just helping welcome the visitors, contact Dickson Monk, Executive Director of the Columbia World Affairs Council, at dmonk@columbiaworldaffairs.org.

Why is this such a big deal for us?

S.C. leads the country in foreign investments, and in recent years there’s been a huge increase in the number of people wanting to do business in the Palmetto State (i.e. Jushi opening a facility in Richland County; Capgemini opening and expanding in BullStreet; and Samsung, BWM, Boeing + Volvo already being in S.C.).

Having international visitors come here turns Columbia into a beacon of diplomacy. It’s also great economic development for the city – the international visitors enjoy going to our tourist attractions and spending their money here. According to CWAC, visitors are always surprised how vibrant and modern our city is.

Overall, the program is a great way to simply promote the city and state as a great destination.

–Sam