Maryville, Tenn. – As a gateway to the Smoky Mountains, Blount County ranked eighth among Tennessee’s 95 counties in visitor expenditures with $320 million in 2013 according to the Economic Impact of Travel on Tennessee Counties report issued by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
The $320 million total represents an increase of over $8 million from 2012. It’s a 19.7 percent increase since 2009 and a 2.7 percent increase from 2011.
Davidson County, which includes the city of Nashville, topped all indices with $4.9 billion in tourism economic impact, up 8.4 percent from 2012.
“We’ve seen a steady upward trend in the tourism industry both nationally and locally since 2009,” said Blount Partnership President Bryan Daniels. “The industrial development of the county during that time has also helped spur this growth as visitors are seeing this area as a vacation and meeting destination as well as a place to relocate.
“The Blount Partnership continues to push the natural beauty of the county to the leisure traveler while also focusing on the needs of the business and group travelers.”
Tourism jobs in the county numbered near 3000 leading to a payroll of $76.12 million and local tax receipts of $10.9 million which was the sixth-highest total in the state and a 3.1 percent increase over 2012.
Blount County ranked third in the East Tennessee Region in economic impact, trailing only Sevier ($1.768 billion) and Knox ($930 million) counties but more than doubling fourth place Anderson County’s total of $111 million.
On an average day in 2013, tourist spending in Blount County generated $877,781 in daily expenditures and created $29,863 in daily local tax receipts.
As a result of the taxes generated by tourist activity in the county, each household pays $584 less in local and state taxes.
Top Counties in Tourist Spending
County ($ Millions)
Davidson $4,992.13
Shelby 3,019.71
Sevier 1,767.92
Hamilton 934.56
Knox 930.74
Williamson 382.24
Sullivan 329.79
Blount 320.39
Rutherford 291.52
Washington 226.29
Montgomery 192.18