Pigeon Forge is banking on a big finish to the holiday shopping season based on numbers yielded by the past couple of months, and compared to those from the same time last year. This is the big money season for Pigeon Forge and towns like Gatlinburg and Sevierville: more shopping, more reservations, and more green.
Tourism keeps the wheels turning around here and December is the key month to closing out a very profitable year.
It’s already happening at some places. Huck Finn’s Catfish reports that December has been a very lucrative month for them with Winterfest kicking into high gear, the Christmas shopping season, and all the shows, decorations and the lights permeating town.
Other popular stops along the parkway like the Comedy Barn report sold old shows because of families coming in to the area for holiday vacations and shopping opportunities. It’s THE time of the year to be in the Smokies and Smoky Mountain towns like Pigeon Forge and its neighbors.
Even the recent dip in gas prices has helped spur the Smoky Mountain economy – an economy that has been gradually picking up steam over the past couple of years.
One great example is the success of Pigeon Forge’s Winterfest over the years. Since its inception in 1990, annual sales tax revenue derived from Winterfest was in the $56 million range. Twenty-three years later that number stands at more than $213 million and climbing every year. It’s also number that is being built on this month with millions expected to come to town in December alone.