Tourism Spending Surges

Williamson County Climbs to #6 Spot in Tennessee

FRANKLIN, Tenn., Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tourism is Tennessee's second largest industry and Williamson County has gained a growing share of the market each year for the last three years. Out of Tennessee's 95 counties, Williamson finished in the number six spot in 2010.  According to the economic impact report recently released by Commissioner Susan Whitaker of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Tennessee experienced a 6.2 percent increase in 2010 equating to $23 billion in visitor expenditures. In the same report, Williamson County tourism spending grew by 11.7% to $295 million.  (Source: [1])

The Williamson County Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official destination marketing organization for the City of Franklin and Williamson County and operates from a small percentage of lodging taxes collected by city and county hotels. The WCCVB is charged with growing travel-related spending in the county by re-investing those visitor-paid taxes to promote the county's tourism assets to potential leisure travelers, group tours and meetings and conferences.

"In 2007 our newly recreated Convention and Visitors Bureau staff and board developed a new and aggressive strategic plan to grow Williamson County's economy through tourism." said Steve Smith, current WCCVB Board Chair and County Commissioner. "We've moved this county from the number 8 position in 2008 to number 7 in 2009 and now number 6 in 2010. The real benefit of tourism is how much our citizens save each year in taxes which would be an expense to them if not for visitor spending and the tax revenue generated."

The report indicates that $6.16 million was generated for local government from visitor paid sales tax alone. Williamson County has 32 hotels with more than 3,600 hotel rooms and will add 338 more with Drury Plaza opening in late summer 2012. In addition to visitors' sales tax revenue, hotels collect $2.6 million in lodging taxes for Williamson County while Franklin pulls in an additional $1.8 million and Brentwood fell just below $1 million in 2010.

According to Mark Shore, Executive Director of the WCCVB, "This is a major achievement for Williamson County. This community is blessed with a CVB staff that sees their work as a call to public service and a CVB board that understands tourism is an investment with strong returns. They 'get it' that visitor spending helps the bottom line of every household in our county."

ABOUT WCCVB
The Williamson County Convention & Visitors Bureau (WCCVB) is the official destination marketing organization for Williamson County and Franklin Tennessee. The WCCVB promotes the unique communities of Williamson County and the city of Franklin's local tourism assets to visitors across the state, the U.S. and worldwide. For additional information on exciting activities in Franklin and Williamson County, contact the WCCVB by phone 615.791.7554, fax 615.550.2707, toll free 866.253.9207, on the web at www.VisitFranklin.com or by mail 108 4th Avenue South, Suite 203, Franklin, TN, 37064.

Sources
[1]    TN Dept. of Tourist Development; "The Economic Impact of Travel on Tennessee Counties" Nashville, TN; Web: www.tnvacation.com

SOURCE Williamson County Convention & Visitors Bureau