Wayne County Tourism Generates $10.7 Million in 2024

Visitors to Wayne County generated $10,764,502 in spending in 2024, representing a 14.14% increase from 2023, according to newly released data from Tourism Economics and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Wayne is part of the South Central Tennessee Tourism region, which saw $545,964,900 in direct economic impact.

“I have maintained for the past five years that the tourism and hospitality industry is a major strategic strength for Wayne County, and the 2024 report only reinforces that fact,” said Executive Director Ryan French, SCTTA. “Visitor spending grew by 14.14%. This county is not only fully recovering from the impacts of the 2020 pandemic, but also is holding steady with consistent year-over-year growth through 2024. The launch of a unified brand and marketing strategy for the entire community has provided a strong foundation for this industry to thrive.”

A robust short-term rental profile, featuring properties such as The Bridges, The Dogwood Inn, and Seven Pines River Resort, has strengthened destination lodging, the largest sector of spending at 28%.

By the numbers*:

• Direct visitor spending in Wayne County generated $591,177 in state tax revenue and $548,490 in local tax revenue.

• If it were not for state and local taxes generated by tourism, each household in Wayne County would pay $199 more in state and local taxes.

• Wayne County ranked 72 among the 95 counties in Tennessee based on visitor spending.

*Research conducted by Tourism Economics, commissioned by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. The data above highlights the impact of visitors within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Wayne County.

Statewide, Tennessee’s tourism industry broke records for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, generating $31.66 billion in direct visitor spending and welcoming 147 million visitors.

“I’m so grateful to our amazing tourism and hospitality industry for these remarkable results,” said Mark Ezell, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. “The Tennessee Tourism team has been able to leverage bigger tourism budgets to help grow visitor spending over 36% in these last six years. We are leading the nation as one of just a few states that are aggressively growing tax revenue from non-Tennessee residents to benefit all seven million Tennesseans.”

2024 statewide highlights:

• Tennessee saw a 12% year-over-year increase in international travel spending. This is notable because the report does not consider impacts from new direct flights from Iceland and Ireland added in Spring 2025. Those impacts will not appear until next year’s report.

• 74 out of 95 counties saw year-over-year growth.

• Tennessee direct visitor spending has grown 36.6% over 2018, compared to the U.S. average growth of 17.4% per data from Tourism Economics.

The 2024 Economic Impact on Travel Report analyzes statewide spending and visitation from domestic and international travelers to Tennessee. The report includes methodology used to determine visitor spending, tax generation, job creation and more. The TN Travel Impact Interactive County Dashboard provides instant access to key metrics, statewide and by county, about the economic impact of travel to Tennessee. All data is sourced from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and Tourism Economics, with national benchmarks provided by U.S. Travel Association.