State reports tourism numbers increasing
The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development joins tourism industry partners to celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week May 7-13 by marking another year of record-setting growth for the state’s $18.4 billion tourism industry.
According to the latest research from DK SHIFFLET, 110 million people visited a Tennessee destination in 2016, a 4.4 percent year-over-year increase, making Tennessee one of the Top 10 states for domestic travel in the United States for the third consecutive year. Approx.imately 80 percent (88.4 million) of Tennessee visitors are leisure travelers, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to 2015.
To celebrate the week, special tourism fairs are being held at the state’s 14 Welcome Centers, with industry representatives meeting and greeting visitors with Tennessee hospitality, Made in Tennessee gifts and opportunities to win prizes. Statewide, local visitor bureaus and independent travel organizations celebrate the week with parades and special awards luncheons, shining a spotlight on the nation’s $2.3 trillion tourism industry and encouraging Americans to make the most of their leisure time by taking a vacation.
According to a study released last year by Project: Time Off, Americans in 2015 left more than 658 million vacation days unused, with half of the nation’s workers foregoing some of their vacation time. Nearly a third of these unused vacation days are truly lost — meaning workers were not able to roll vacation time into the next year or receive other compensation for the time.
“We continue to tap into cutting-edge technology to make planning a trip to Tennessee simple and convenient,” Commissioner Kevin Triplett, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, said. “We know once guests arrive, they are treated to one-of-a-kind experiences and Southern hospitality to keep them coming back year after year and help ensure that no vacation days go unused.”