Tennessee is a big tourist draw in the summers. Many that fly into Nashville are also heading to the Smokies. Take a look at the cheap car rates for this weekend. I can rent a standard SUV for $251 for a week, before taxes. A year ago, these rates were double or even triple. Things are slow right now.
a friend visited and rented a car for Memorial Day weekend in downtown Sevierville and purchased a basic economy car for 2 days, all in cost was under $100 and they upgraded him to a bmw. The parking lot was packed with vehicles. last year you couldn’t rent any car from there short notice (had to go to Knoxville) Atleast we have low gas prices now, but that’s due to a drop in demand, hopefully opec+ doesn’t do another oil supply cut.
I don’t know who would rent their car out on Turo in this area. The wear and tear the mountains put on vehicles is pretty significant.
Here's a graph showing the number of visitors. I'm not surprised to see numbers go down in general. You'll also see numbers drop for each property because there's more competition, just like you'll see rental car lots full because they are now competing with Turo and Lyft. I expect at least another two years before we see this stuff stabilize.
