Tennessee travel spending hit a record-breaking $27.5 billion in 2022, state leaders announced recently.
The feat is according to preliminary data released by U.S. Travel and Tourism Economics. The new data put Tennessee in the top 25 states for travel spending. Tennessee also rose from 14th place in 2020 to 11th in the ranking for 2021 and 2022.
“Tennessee’s tourism, leisure, and hospitality industry is leading the nation, and we are grateful to our hardworking industry for making these historic new milestones possible,” said Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Mark Ezell. “Visitors come for our incredible scenic beauty, dining, and world-class attractions, and keep coming back for our unmatched hospitality. There’s nowhere better to live, work, and play than Tennessee.”
The leisure and hospitality industry employs more than 352,000 Tennesseans. Tourism is the state’s second-largest industry and contributed $1.8 billion to the state coffers last year.
Countywide data on tourism is due from the company in August. However, the firm’s latest data for the Memphis area said visitors spent $2.6 billion here in 2019.
A Memphis Tourism and Greater Memphis Chamber report released in August 2022 said tourism jobs in Memphis had returned to pre-pandemic levels and that the industry had made a “full recovery.” That report said tourists spent $3.4 billion here in 2021.
