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Market report: Nashville topped $11.2 billion in visitor spending and BNA continued passenger growth
Summary
Staff presented statewide county‑level tourism data showing Davidson County recorded $11.22 billion in visitor spending in 2024, projections for 2025–27, hotel market indicators, growth in short‑term rentals, and strong passenger gains at Nashville International Airport (BNA).
Bruce, market research lead, presented county‑level and industry metrics that commissioners said will guide marketing and sales strategies.
Bruce told the commission that tourism economics reported 16,940,000 visitors to Davidson County in 2024 and that visitor spending in the county reached $11,220,000,000. He provided a category breakdown: roughly 24% of visitor spending on lodging (about $2.7 billion), 23% on food and beverage (about $2.6 billion), 23% on amusement and recreation (about $2.6 billion), 11% on retail (about $1.2 billion) and 19% on transportation (about $2.0 billion).
The research team projected 17,390,000 visitors in 2025 (a 2.7% increase), with roughly 67% staying overnight. Bruce also described multi‑year projections the consultant provided: $12.0 billion in visitor spending in 2026 and $12.6 billion in 2027.
On hotel metrics, Bruce said year‑to‑date demand was up about 0.9% but room revenues were down roughly 1% and occupancy down about 1.9% through August. He attributed occupancy compression partly to supply growth (about 3% this year), which reduced RevPAR (revenue per available room) by about 3.8% year over year. Event‑driven demand remained a bright spot, he said.
Short‑term rentals showed growth: demand up 6.6% through August, rates down about 1.4%, and roughly 9,500 active listings countywide with about 28% of listings being four‑bedroom units, Bruce said. He said the listing data came via AirDNA and reflected permitted units shown in the city’s dataset.
On air service, he reported BNA served 114 nonstop destinations and averaged over 300 daily departures; BNA reported 24,770,000 passengers over a 12‑month period and set a single‑month passenger record of 2,400,000 in June. Bruce noted international service gains in Q2 with Europe up 28.6% and Europe representing 30% of international share.
Why it matters: These figures shape advertising, sales travel, and product strategy; commissioners referenced the data when discussing market targeting, new flights to Europe and incentive packages being offered to carriers.
