Yesterday, the first in-person Chattanooga Tourism Summit since the pandemic took place at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
Wonder how Chattanooga’s tourism and hospitality industry fared in the past year? Here are some of the top talking points:
- The big news: our economy came back from the pandemic stronger than ever before + fared better than most in the state and country.
- Chattanooga’s rebound was led by leisure visitors + group and family sports.
- On average, 15,000 visitors are staying in our hotels every night.
- Business travel, however, was an underperforming tourism section — not just in Chattanooga, but in most places. Visit Chattanooga is investing more time + resources this year in pursuing this target group.
- Another underperforming sector is group travel (the number of group meetings and conventions). The good news? We’ll soon have a competitive advantage in this group market — 25 Gig internet at the convention center.
- 31,000+ community residents work in the tourism and hospitality industry.
- Oh, and something really cool? Samantha Brown of “Places to Love” recently filmed in Chattanooga for her next season that will air in January.