Nashville’s tourist stops saw a boost in business during the pandemic last year despite state restrictions.
Food and Beverage tax revenues in 2019 were about $217,000 … last year the town saw an increase of about $4,000 to $221,000.
Municipal town manager Dax Norton says the increase is most likely due to residents who couldn’t travel, but still wanted to get away.
“Locals probably started eating locally, as opposed to maybe grabbing something while they're at their office. And some business owners said that they had their best year,” Norton said.
The tourist destination is known to attract thousands of visitors during the fall and holiday seasons.
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The town’s population grew by about 450 too – U.S. Census data indicates Nashville’s population increased from 803 to 1,256 the past decade.
“There was a little bit of organic growth, but it's just not happening because there's nowhere to move. There's no housing stock. So it's impeding that growth a little bit.”
Norton says annexation kicked in accounting for most of the town’s increase in population.
