Hamilton County outpaces Knox County in tourism for 1st time

photo Aerial of downtown Chattanooga, the Tennessee River, the Bluff View district, Market St Bridge, and Walnut St Bridge

For the first time ever, Hamilton County has moved ahead of Knox County in tourism spending to push into fourth place statewide, according to local officials.

Hamilton historically is the fifth largest county for tourism in the state, according to the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau.

New numbers by the Travel Industry of America show that Hamilton is now fourth in the state, with an $893.3 million economic impact, the Visitors Bureau said in a news release. That's up 10.3 percent over 2010, according to the CVB.

"This is incredibly exciting to see that visitors spent nearly $1 billion dollars throughout our county," said Bob Doak, the CVB's chief executive in a statement.

Davidson County remains No. 1, according to the CVB.

See Saturday's Times Free Press for full story.

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