Kemp last year made a splash at the event, which many of his fellow Republicans revile as an out-of-touch symbol of elitism. To the governor, who attended last year’s swanky conference in cowboy boots, it’s also a way to bring a “conservative voice” to a place that doesn’t feature many.

“It’s good to have that voice for our party there while selling the state at the same time,” he said, adding: “If people are worried about me getting globalized or influenced over there, they don’t know me well.”

Even so, it’s an incongruous setting for a governor whose favorite pastimes include college football, a Varsity hotdog and bush-hogging on his Athens property. But he framed his trip as an economic development mission to appeal to CEOs and international leaders in a single setting.

“We’re seeing all these people in one place,” he said. “It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”

Last year, his office set up meetings with European, Japanese and South Korean decision-makers, and he took part in a private, glitzy lunch with dozens of executives at a mountaintop hotel.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

This year, the schedule is stacked with similar meetings. In between panel discussions, Kemp plans meetings with CEOs and foreign leaders. He will headline a Georgia reception that will give participants a break from the packed bistros that line the streets of the ski resort.

“It will give us an opportunity to show off the state,” Kemp said, “and make sure we get quality time to speak to them.”

‘Strike while the iron is hot’

Kemp’s back-to-back invites to the ritzy event speak to his rising profile after defeating both Democratic star Stacey Abrams and a Republican challenger backed by Donald Trump in 2022.

Even when he was introduced at a forum discussion in 2023, Norwegian diplomat Borge Brende reminded the international audience “we saw you a lot on TV all over the world the last election.”

The governor used the platform to tout Georgia’s “rocking and rolling” economy and offer “take it for what it’s worth” advice to federal lawmakers to secure the U.S. border. He also sharply criticized President Joe Biden’s health and climate change legislation as wasteful spending.

It was one of several international trips Kemp took last year, the first time he kept a busy overseas schedule since he took office in 2019. He also led a trade mission to Israel and made economic development stops in France and Germany.

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

Kemp said he hopes to capitalize on the surge of clean energy projects that Georgia has landed in recent years — but he warned the window for more investment could be closing. He wants to sell Georgia as an alternative to Europe, where tax policies and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have added to economic uncertainty.

“Economic development is a long game. You just grind away every day. You’ve got to continue to show up and sell the state,” he said. “We’ve got to strike while the iron is hot in Georgia to keep getting these big deals.”

There’s a political silver lining in the event, too, for a governor who wants to remain in the national political conversation — and could seek federal office after his term ends.

“We have to go sell our ideas anywhere. We can’t just do it at a Saturday GOP breakfast. We have to defend the way we think government should run, even in a place like this,” Kemp said. “So hopefully I’m helping to fight the good fight on the international stage.”