REPORT FROM THE SMOKIES: Visitors in 2025 down from 2024

[Collin Hays]

Right now, this is an unconfirmed number, but as of now, 11.75 million people visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2025.  It appears we are settling back into the range of 11.5 to 12 million visitors per year.  Considering that over 10,000 new rentals have been built since 2018, it's easy to understand how revenues for everyone are mostly down.

[Janice Carter]

Collin, that is a huge number of visitors. I haven’t been to the Smoky Mountains in over 10 years but I can imagine how much it has changed since my last visit. With 10,000+ new rentals added since 2018, it makes sense that revenues are being spread thinner, even with visitor counts stabilizing in the 11.5–12 million range.