ROANE COUNTY, TN – According to the U.S. Travel Association visitors spent $16.8 billion in Tennessee, and that was during the pandemic in 2020.  Using this data, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development (TDTD) created a visitor impact report for each of the 95 counties to provide a snapshot of the direct impact a visitor has on each county.  So, how did Roane County fair?  

Visitors spent $51.42 million in Roane County, which is the 28^th highest (out of the 95 counties).  This was a jump from 32^nd in 2019.  In addition, visitors spending money in Roane County creates jobs and pays for important services, including education through sales tax.  In 2020, this amounted to $13M in payroll paid to hospitality workers and $4.43M in state and local taxes, saving every household $212.

“The beginning of 2020 started out as a record year for the state and for Roane County,” said Kaley Hill, Vice President of Marketing, Roane Alliance, “but the pandemic hit the tourism and hospitality industry extremely hard, halting a decade of growth across the entire nation.  In fact, Roane County saw a 14% decline in visitor spending over 2019 – the highest recorded and only the third decrease since 2012 – and even then the decrease was less than 3%.”

“This is not what we like to hear,” said Pam May, President, Roane Alliance, “but it was expected given the abrupt halt of travel.  The good news is that Roane County fared better than many of our competitive lake counties who saw an even larger decrease, as well as a decrease in their ranking within the 95 counties.  I think the abundance of outdoor recreation and opportunities to camp are just a few of the reasons we fared better.  And I don’t think it hurt that we had just launched our new Get Outdoors marketing campaign around the time we were told to social distance and get outdoors!”

“2021 looks promising, with occupancy tax up 59% through September,” said Scott Stout, Visitor Services, Roane Alliance.  “Many of the events are back with great crowds, and the Visitors Bureau-sponsored fishing tournaments were back with really good attendance – its great to have visitors back in Roane County.”

The Roane Alliance mission is to create an environment and a unified voice that promotes job creation, economic development, enhanced quality of life, education, and workforce through team efforts of the Roane County Industrial Development Board, Visitors Bureau and Chamber.  To learn more about the marketing efforts visit RoaneAlliance.org/Mediakit and www.visitroane.com to plan things to do in Roane County.  The State’s press release announcing the 2020 tourism impact is available at RoaneAlliance.org/news.

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