Happy 2024! As we enter a new year, this is the time when people begin planning for new life
goals, including investment opportunities. Many of you who are just making your first visit to
the Great Smoky Area are asking, “Is this a good area for Short Term Rentals?”
Let me see if I can answer that for you. We indeed are a very lucrative overnight rental market
and actually have been for years, but many investors are just now figuring that out! In the last
few years, the Great Smoky Mountain Area has been rated by VRBO, Trip Advisor and others
who track short term rental revenues as one of the top 10 places in the United States to invest.
One month we were thrilled to find we had swooped up three spots out of the top five with
Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville being the locations of choice! There are several
reasons for the popularity of our area with over rental guests who wish to stay in our
properties, know as “cabins.” Don’t let the name, “cabin” deceive you. These is not your
grandfather’s hunting cabin. These are designed with the comfort of the guests in mind.
It helps that the Great Smoky National Park is the most visited National Park in the World. As a
matter of fact, we have more visitors every year than the Eiffel Tower, the Rome Coliseum, and
the Great Pyramids! We are blessed with more than 12.5 million visitors each year. Seventy
percent of the population of the US can drive to us in one day. This makes us a superb location
for a spontaneous trip or the perfect spot to meet for reunions and conventions.
The Great Smokies National Park offers our guests, hiking, horseback riding, camping, bicycling,
picnicking & sightseeing. Or as our mountain streams meander out of the park, guests jump in a
tube, raft and kayak, or try their hand at flyfishing. And of course, there is always the thrill of
zip-lines and rock-climbing adventures!
In addition to these activities, we also have world class sports venues, Cal Ripken and Rocky Top
Sports World that host national tournaments in all sports – basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis
to name a few. The motorsports enthusiasts are not to be outdone, hosting classic car shows
called “Rod Run” on multiple weekends throughout the year in Pigeon Forge. It is so congested
with Hot Rods that we are forced to let the local school kids out early during these amazing
events just so the buses can get the kids home on time. Visitors in the thousands line our
Pigeon Forge strip, placing their camp chairs out for the weekend – the ultimate tail-gate party.
It doesn’t hurt that we are also home to the Most Popular Theme Park in the US! Dollywood
Theme Park has won award after award! Most Friendly Park in the World was our local favorite.
Dolly Parton, of course, was born and raised in Sevierville, and we couldn’t ask for a more
effective and delightful ambassador for our area. Theaters, shopping, dining, roller coasters and
water parks, are on every corner to our visitors delight! And did I mention? we also are home
to a natural arts and craft mecca, attracting artists from all over the world working in all media:
ceramics, wood, oils and watercolors. The artists and craftsmen come and teach at our national
school of the arts, Arrowmont, and then some of them just never leave, instead setting up shop
and living in our popular “Arts and Craft” area.
We also have a ski resort, as well as a Ripley’s state of the art aquarium. There just is
something for everyone in the Great Smoky Mountains! And guess where these guests want to
stay? A cabin that is a unique Smoky Mountain experience. All these reasons conspire
together to make our region a super investment for Short Term Rentals! If you’d like to learn
more about how these overnight cabin rentals generate income for their owners, call, text, or
email me. I’d love to help you determine if cabin ownership in the Smokies is right for you!
