Visitors help strengthen the county’s economy
Visitors eventually leave Gilmer. But some of their money stays to benefit the local economy.
Cell data from the Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce (GCCOC) reveals just how much Gilmer residents benefit from tourism.
“I know people who get to have a beautiful life here in Gilmer County because they work for tourism businesses,” GCCOC Marketing Director Caitlin Neal said.
From Dec. 18 to Dec. 29, phone data revealed 102,900 visitors came to Gilmer County from more than 50 miles away.
Data for New Year and the following weekend wasn’t in yet at time of writing.
In GCCOC’s measurements, a “visitor” is anyone in Gilmer County who has come from another place outside fifty miles.
Each of these people stayed about two and a half days.
Information from phone data reveals that more people are coming to Gilmer and staying longer, Neal said. This means more money for the county.
The average person visiting Gilmer spends about $206 each day in the county, she said.
Most of Gilmer’s visitors come from Atlanta, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and New York.
“I think a lot of that can be attributed to just how many people live there,” Neal said of the numbers from New York.
Over the last 12 months, about $105.2 million has come to the county through tourism, Neal estimates.
“Your most valuable traveler is going to be the one who’s staying overnight,” she said.
These numbers probably undercount the real impact of tourism. They don’t include kids too young to own cell phones or people from relatively nearby.
Although tourist traffic can be annoying, tourism helps fuel the economy.
“Tourism has made a way for businesses to exist that we would not otherwise have,” Neal said.
For those who still feel frustrated, it’s important to keep in mind that visitors eventually leave, she said.
“People who visit here by and large want to respect the space that they’re visiting,” Neal said. “They’re not that different from us.”