Tennessee Tourism: Sara Beth Urban and Kim Mitchell

In this episode of MsInterPReted, we’re talking about tourism in Tennessee. Tennessee tourism generated $29 billion in direct visitor spending and saw 141 million visitors to the state in 2022, Tennessee ranks 11th in the nation for travel spending, the highest rank ever for our state.

Tennessee has approximately 13, 372 restaurants in the state, which is roughly one restaurant per every 500 people if you look at our population numbers and over 1600 hotels.

Sarah Beth is the CEO and president of the Tennessee Hospitality & Tourism Association. Her experience includes being Executive Director of the Tennessee Whiskey Trail and before that was also a part of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development as the Middle Tennessee Division Manager. HospitalityTN represents the interests of Tennessee’s lodging, dining, and tourism establishments and the related businesses involved in the hospitality & tourism industry.

Kim Mitchell joined the Blount Partnership in July 2014 after serving the past 2 ½ years as the special events coordinator for the Helen Ross McNabb Center where she contributed to the successful planning, management and execution of many Blount County special events with specific responsibility for achieving all fundraising goals and community awareness objectives. 

Her position with the Blount Partnership consists of recruiting events in the areas of leisure, business and group travel to the county for overnight stays. 
 
 A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Mitchell has worn many hats in a variety of industries during her career ranging from being director of catering for a national hotel chain to serving as a marketing and public relations specialist for a local marketing group.

Topics Discussed:

·        What brought these two professionals to the tourism industry

·        They describe the tourism boom they see in their respective geographic locations

·        How the Tennessee Hospitality & Tourism Association partners with tourism businesses

·        The tactics most effective in getting the word out to travelers about all that Tennessee has to offer

·        The rise of outdoor adventure and leisure travel 

·        The influence of the Tennessee Whiskey Trail on tourism

·        What’s on the horizon for Tennessee tourism