Tourism Attracts 1.31 Million Visitors to Williamson in 2015

Spending by visitors provided a $410.69 million economic impact to the county, up from $407.46 million the previous year. The total number of visitors jumped 7.1 percent to 1.31 million.

Williamson County Convention & Visitor Bureau CEO Ellie Chin Westman said part of the growth can be attributed to better collaboration.

“I think there is a couple of things at work,” she said. “The tourism industry in Williamson County is working together the best we ever have. We met regularly with hotels, attractions with our music venues and our music experiences. Together, we are on the same path with the goal of bringing more visitors in Williamson and that has a played a huge role in our growth.”

The growth of tourism is now providing a local economic impact that is $115 million greater than it was in 2010. That same year, Williamson generated $295 million.

“We’ve added a lot of hotel rooms since then,” she said. And that has definitely going to contributed to our growth. I think in the past couple of years we have put a lot of effort into increasing our social media efforts and expanding the reach of who we are promoting to. The list we continue to make also help and bring us exposure.”

Tourism-related growth also has translated into more tourism-related jobs in the county. In 2015 tourism industry employment in Williamson County jumped to 3,000. That resulted in $64.68 million in payroll paid to workers.

Local hotels across the county and in the cities of Franklin, Brentwood and Fairview made $33.2 million in total tourism-related collections.

The Williamson County Convention & Visitor Bureau operates from a percentage of the lodging taxes collected from visitors by the local hotels and bed and breakfast establishments. Those collections are then reinvested in sales and marketing efforts to attract the world to Williamson County.

Here’s the breakdown of numbers from the previous years in comparison:

Emily West covers Franklin and Williamson County government and schools for Home Page Media Group. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @emwest22.