Maryville, Tenn. – As a gateway to the Smoky Mountains, Blount County ranked eighth among Tennessee’s 95 counties in visitor expenditures with $357 million in 2016 according to the Economic Impact of Travel on Tennessee Counties report issued by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
The $357 million total represents an increase of nearly $12 million from 2015 and nearly $100 from 2009.
Davidson County, which includes the city of Nashville, topped all county indices with $5.996 billion in tourism economic impact.
“We’ve seen a steady upward trend in the tourism industry both nationally and locally since 2009,” said Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority Director Kim Mitchell. “We continue to push our brand – Peaceful Side of the Smokies – nationally and promote Blount County as place for outdoor tourism and a meeting destination.”
Tourism jobs in the county were at an all-time high of 3,410 which led to a payroll of $94.18 million.
Local tax receipts of $12.53 million were the sixth-highest total in the state, while state tax receipts totaled $20.05 million.
From 2015 to 2016, Blount county saw increases in visitor expenditures (3.2%), payroll (3.8%), employment (2.4%), state tax receipts (5.1%) and local tax receipts (3.8%).
Because of the taxes generated by visitor activity in the county, each household pays over $600 less in local and state taxes.
Tennessee tourism’s direct domestic and international travel expenditures reached a record high of $19.3 billion in 2016, up 4.7 percent over the previous year, as reported by the U.S. Travel Association.