[0:03] Speaker A (Tom Goodwin): Well, welcome, Chad Netherland, to the for the Love of Gatlinburg podcast. We're glad to have you here today on this beautiful day. About every day is beautiful in Gatlinburg. [0:13] Speaker B (Chad Netherland): Can you agree with that? It's spectacular. The view is amazing. I gotta tell you, I've lived here for a long time, and when you drive in, you only see this in one city. And every time you see it, it's a wow. I mean, it really is inspiring to be like, wow. That's what I get to see every day when I drive to work. [0:34] Speaker A: And for those of you that are just listening into the podcast and not on the YouTube channel, we are in a property with Mount Laurel Chalet called the Porch. And it has a massive porch behind us with an unobstructed view of Mount leconte. And the clouds are settling in. The view always changes. It's one of the things we both love about Gatlinburg. [0:52] Speaker B: Truly spectacular. [0:54] Speaker A: Well, Chad, you are the president and CEO of Visit Gatlinburg. [0:58] Speaker B: Yes. [0:59] Speaker A: And which is a part of the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce and the convention center and the visitors bureau. There's a lot of roles and responsibilities that you have in that capacity. But tell us a little bit more about your role in that specific area with Gatlinburg, and we'll talk a little bit more about your backstory as well. [1:17] Speaker B: Yeah, wonderful. So, as you said, I'm the president and CEO of the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Gatlinburg Chamber of Commerce, which is encompassing everything related to tourism as it relates to visiting town, from coming in, from leisure visitors to our chamber members, our welcome centers, special events and things of that nature that we do here in town. That all kind of falls under our organization. But I've been with the organization now a little over a decade in my CEO role, as well as the vice president of marketing before that. So I can't think of a more fun place to try to market. I hate to say my job is easy, but when your product is this good, it's kind of easy. [1:57] Speaker A: So for the last 10 years, you've led our effort in representing, really, the face and the story of Gatlinburg, which is amazing. But for you personally, that story began a long time ago as a child. [2:08] Speaker B: Decades ago, actually. I was originally from Biloxi, Mississippi, and my grandparents would visit this area every year in the summer, and then they ended up buying a place here as a summer home. And then I would come up, you know, and spend the summers Here, which is really, really cool. There's a lot of places that I worked as a kid throughout town, which is interest. But I remember the very first time that I came to town. And for me, growing up as a kid from Mississippi, I mean, this was like, this is like Las Vegas to me. You know, like, wow, the Strip. All these attractions and all these amazing things. [2:43] Speaker A: And when was that? [2:44] Speaker B: This was in the early 1980s, so 1982, 1983, time frame. And I remember it vividly because there were several things that transpired during that time that honestly would change the course or set the course for my career that I didn't know at the time. And one of the things is that we would walk the Strip just like everybody does. It's beautiful. And then it's the first time I was ever exposed to the Guinness Book of World Records. And then I was at the museum and I'm standing there and I'm like looking up, I'm like, this place is amazing. There's a Lamborghini out front. I'm like, I'm a poor kid from Mississippi. I've never seen a Lamborghini. And so I go into the Guinness Book of World Records and I'm looking around at all these amazing artifacts. And if you remember, the museum downtown, it had all these various different types of feats. And it was at that point I was like, you know, maybe I can be in here one day. And so that all happened right here in town, and. Which is so funny and ironic, Thomas. So as 20 years would have it, from that point, in that Same exact museum, 20 years later, there was an entire wall in that museum dedicated to some of my Guinness World Records. And that all started right there in Gatlinburg when I was a kid. [4:02] Speaker A: So some of your World Records. How many world records do you hold? [4:06] Speaker B: I'm an 11 time Guinness World Record holder for strength in martial arts. At one point, I held more records in those categories than anyone in the world. Been in the book numerous times, video games, TV shows and whatnot. As it relates to Guinness and Ripley's Believe it or Not. [4:23] Speaker A: Believe it or Not. [4:24] Speaker B: Believe it or Not. But, yeah, but it's so funny because right now, if you went to the Guinness Book of World Records website and clicked on, I'd like to apply for a record, the picture that pops up is me, even all these years later, which I think is comical. But that started right there in Gatlinburg. And so full circle. To go from a kid visiting town to being exposed to something that would change Your course of your life to then becoming the president of that destination is incredible. [4:57] Speaker A: We've heard a lot of stories of people tying meaningful events of their life, but this is really the full picture of your entire life. And now, for the last 10 years, you've not only served as the voice of Gatlinburg and the advocate and the promoter for Gatlinburg, and you support businesses like ours and so many others to welcome guests. But how amazing that. That started as a small child visiting from Biloxi, Mississippi. Now, your grandpar purchased a home here, and they had a. [5:28] Speaker B: They did. They purchased some land right outside of. Right outside of town. And, you know, they. They had put up a little camper for the longest time till they could build something. But every year, it was. It was summertimes in Gatlinburg, you know, and they. They would always go downtown. We'd have to go to the village. We'd have to go watch the taffy being made. We would. You know, we'd have to get caramel apples. We would have to do things of that nature. But it's so, you know, it's. It's ingrained in you. It's. It's. It's very traditional. So when you're looking at marketing this destination, you're like, what did I do? Was a kid. And you really can see the patterns of people who love the destination, and it really is what they do. It's not just where they go, you know, it's really what they do with their family. [6:12] Speaker A: I love that picture and how that really hasn't changed. [6:15] Speaker B: Right. Exactly. [6:16] Speaker A: Since the 80s or even before that. [6:17] Speaker B: Exactly. [6:18] Speaker A: Now, a lot of things have changed in the community since you came here with your grandparents in the 80s. And now working and living in the community for the last 10 years. What do you think are some of the major and significant changes to the Gatlinburg community? [6:31] Speaker B: Well, I mean, what you're always hoping for, especially in my role and for the community, is that you have community growth and that you have economic development that still continues. I think the most important part of that is making sure that you keep the character that is Gatlinburg, that what people come here for. You don't want it to be so commercialized that you lost the essence of what it is. But you do need some of that in order to service some of the new visitors and some of the younger visitors that are looking for various types of experiences. I'm very happy that we're getting various types of restaurants and we have Jason Aldean's now we have old red. You know, we have some different varieties of things that have a little bit of nightlife, but yet still family friendly. So I am happy to see some of these larger brands that are coming in because it does help with visitation to the area. But you know, it's changed drastically, hasn't it, in the last decade? It really has, of what you're seeing, you know, but we're trying to keep that character and there's a small group of us that really have come together to make sure we protect that. And so as you start to see new growth, you won't see giant pink, giant buildings and hopefully we can kind of control things. That kind of keeps that mountain village feel because once that's gone, it's hard to get that back. [7:51] Speaker A: So what is that? Explain a little bit more about that unique character that we want to preserve. [7:55] Speaker B: Right. So we talked about Guinness Records a moment ago. I did reach out to some of my friends in Guinness World Records and I said, hey, what would be the record for the visited mountain towns? What would be the most visited mountain town in the world based on population? And Gatlinburg, Tennessee very well could be its own Guinness World Record. And they're looking into that. 4,000 full time visitors or full time residents that live in. [8:20] Speaker A: And it's been 4,000, 4,000 forever, right. [8:22] Speaker B: Since they built the pyramids, there was 4,000 people that lived in Gallenburg. But 4,000 full time residents in Gatlinburg but receives more than 10 million visitors a year. And so, I mean, per capita it's astounding. So we're looking at that. And the reason I bring that up is there is no other place like Gatlinburg. There's no other place that's three and a half miles long, surrounded by Great Smoky Mountains national park on all three sides, with the largest mountain in the eastern United States as your backdrop and still have world class attractions, amazing places to stay like the one that we're in. I mean it's just spectacular. So the amenities that you get here, plus the entertainment that you get here in the backdrop, there's no other place like it. That's the character I don't think they will ever lose. Primarily geographically. They have nowhere to go. So you've kind of run out of space on both sides, right? So you're on the park on either side, which is kind of good for Gatlinburg. So what's going to happen now is it will just continue to evolve and get better in top grade is What I think the evolution process would look like, it's an exciting time to be a part of what we do because so many people now that are moving into some of our feeder markets like Nashville, Atlanta, some of these other larger demographics markets, they're our number one feeder market to town. And as those markets continue to grow, Nashville in particular, a lot of people who are moving to those markets for the first time, they're experiencing Gatlinburg for the very first time. [9:51] Speaker A: Isn't that fascinating when we think of, you know, your history and the amount of times I've stayed and visited Gatlinburg and have worked here and led a business that there are people still that are calling up weekly and saying, well, I've never been to Gatlinburg before. And so as we think of those listeners today that are thinking maybe I'll schedule a trip to Gatlinburg or the legacy guests that are repeat, there are so many guests that come five, six, seven, eight times a year, which is kind of the bread and butter. It's great. They are a part of the legacy and the story. But what would, what would you say to the first time person coming to Gatlinburg that sets us apart geographically? We have the national park, we have, you're contained, you're as close as you can possibly get. But what are those character elements that you hope those first time guests would experience? [10:41] Speaker B: I think there's a couple of things. One, they would be shocked at the amount of things there are to do here. You know, if I had to give you a 30 second elevator speech of everything that's in Gatlinburg from someone who's never experienced it before. I mean, you know, just looking from not only amazing places to stay in amenities, look at the attractions. You know, we have over 50 attractions in town. Some of them are world class attractions. You have the one of the longest aerial tramways in America right here in Gatlinburg, the Ober Mountain tram. You have the longest aerial pedestrian skybridge in America right here in the middle of town. [11:19] Speaker A: Talk about Guinness World Records. [11:20] Speaker B: You have, I mean, you know, you have Tennessee's only ski resort which is, you know, over over mountain for skiing. You have old Smokey Moonshine, the largest whiskey distilling company in world at this point right here in Gatlinburg. So you look at the various types of things from. We have an aquarium that receives millions of visitors a year. It's the fourth most visited aquarium in America right here in our small town Anakeesta. There is not any other place that you've ever experienced that looks like that. I mean, it's a one of a kind creation, you know, and the Benz has built that right here in Gatlinburg. So, you know, when you come to town for the first time, you're kind of shocked. Like, you know, I go on vacation the first time. Like, what are we going to do? Well, here it's like, okay, have we got enough money to do all this? So there's so many things to do. The backdrop to your point, you're walking downtown. Gatlinburg is incredibly safe. It's entirely walkable. You can park one time and walk everywhere, which is not like most destinations. We got to get in the car and go from point A to point B, then find a place to park. Misnomer. There's a lot of parking in Gatlinburg. People think there's nowhere to park here. There's actually 4701 parking spots in Gatlinburg. [12:31] Speaker A: Well, I'm glad someone knows that number. [12:33] Speaker B: I do. I hate to know why, because I have to walk through every one of them. No, but we just recently went through and wanted to look at what does that look like from a parking perspective? Plenty of parking. You just have to look for it. Yes. Or you can go to gatlinburg.com and see where there's available parking spots. But I mean, for a first time visitor when you came here, you know, I came as a kid, so I had a different experience, but I think people would be like, wow, this is actually really more than what I ever thought it was going to be. [13:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And you didn't even mention the national park. [13:03] Speaker B: Exactly. [13:03] Speaker A: The backdrop that hosts this community, the hundreds of trails, the access to the park. And that's a free attraction. [13:13] Speaker B: Exactly. [13:13] Speaker A: For our guests. And it's notably one of the most majestic elements, which is great. So I think people get worried sometimes. You see online, oh, there's just too much growth, there's too much progress in Gatlinburg. We're going to miss out on the essence of Gatlinburg. And I think you nailed it when you said there are people here that are really committed to preserving the character of Gatlinburg and not allowing the attractions and the events to overwhelm that character. And I think that's an art. That's an art form of a leader and the leadership of the community to navigate that. How are you hopeful that as Gatlinburg continues to evolve over the next 10 years, that that character will still remain? [13:58] Speaker B: You Know, I'm part of the conversation, right? And part of that, that's part of making a change, is making sure that you're part of what's being said and what's happening in town and, you know, making sure that you're really well plugged into what's coming in town, what people are thinking about building. And the leadership that we have here is really amazing. And one of the reasons I say that is they care so much personally about Gatlinburg. They have personal vested interests here as well, but you don't see any smokestacks. I mean, tourism is what we do. And when you have one objective and one focus and one target, everyone is in line. So it's not like, hey, we need to come over here and do this or we need to go do that. It is tourism. And it's not only having a world class product, but it's about customer service and having those people come back. And so everyone has a buy in to do it and do it very well. Now the conversation is, how do we continue to elevate this to where we want to top grade the product? How do we make our streets look better? How do we make our events better? How do we make the things that we do public facing look better? I don't know if you've seen some of the new trolley wraps that are in town. That's a conscious effort to update the brand, but still keep a nod to the history of what those trolleys are. And that's just a small thing, but. [15:22] Speaker A: But those small things really do add up. And I remember a few years back, and I can't remember when exactly it was where the power lines were taken down, overhead power lines, and put, you know, under the ground. [15:33] Speaker B: Exactly. [15:34] Speaker A: Which was aesthetically an incredible improvement. It made Gatlinburg feel a little bit more pedestrian and walkable, which it already was. But it took away a little bit more of the industrial look and it made it more of a village. [15:47] Speaker B: It is. You're so right. I mean, the undergrounding of all the utilities was just changing. It changed the landscape, it changed the feel. And then when you have our Winterfest celebrations, when we put up all the lights, there's no obstruction. So it is really spectacular. And we continue to add to that each and every year. But there are plans to still underground the rest of the rest of the town. It's really the timing. You know, how do you shut down a single road to coming into town to underground those utilities? It's quite an undertaking, especially when you're dealing with some of the rivers and the natural elements that we have that are protected and as well should be. How do you work around some of those? So it's coming, but it's coming at a slower pace. [16:25] Speaker A: It does make a difference. [16:26] Speaker B: It does, absolutely. [16:27] Speaker A: It does make a difference. It's interesting. Gatlinburg used to be a seasonal location or a seasonal destination. And there were times where closed down, like from Thanksgiving until spring. [16:40] Speaker B: Right. [16:41] Speaker A: Springtime. But now you have a 12 month your job 24, 7. You're always on. There's always a new opportunity, there's a new event to promote. What do you see as far as the rhythm of events in Gatlinburg? How do you plan for those and how does that kind of the pace and the rhythm of all those events really tie into all the marketing? [17:05] Speaker B: Yeah, great question. So we do events for one of two reasons. One, to bring people to town or two, to enhance the experience that they have while they're in town. So those are. They will fall in one of those two categories. Right? We have some of the parades that. We have two parades in particular that will be 50 years old next year. The Fantasy Lights Christmas parade, which is now the largest event that we do. Like I said, next year will be its 50 year. It's going to be amazing. And it gets bigger and better every year. From a marketing perspective. Last year we broadcasted live on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. Well, it's not live, so it looks live. Right. But it's pre recorded and then packaged and then it airs on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. And it was in over 50 markets which reached about 100 million people. Now there's 250 million people. [17:56] Speaker A: I tell you, one of those people. My mother was one of those people. And we participate in the Christmas parade, the Fantasy Allies parade. [18:04] Speaker B: And I mom, the float was amazing by the way. [18:06] Speaker A: We received third place for a small company. We were really proud of that and we love participating in that. And I'm on the way float and waving to people. And I don't know why you wave to people in parades, but everyone waves back. It's really heartwarming. [18:19] Speaker B: It's very pageant. [18:20] Speaker A: So my mother's in Chicago on Christmas Eve watching wgn, the local station and syndicated on there is the Gatlinburg. [18:29] Speaker B: The parade isn't that amazing? [18:30] Speaker A: And she calls me, she goes, you're on tv. You're on TV on the parade. [18:34] Speaker B: I'm like, okay, see, I love those stories because it's one thing when you're advertising, people sometimes turn off advertising. It's white noise. Right. But this is a non intrusive way to bring your product, which is Gatlinburg, into your home in a positive way. So you're sitting there with your family and you have the TV on in the background and there's a hometown parade and it's Gatlinburg. [19:01] Speaker A: And it really conveys the heart of Gatlinburg. [19:03] Speaker B: For sure. [19:04] Speaker A: The parade just has the. The people walking along the line, the thousands of people that attend the parade, the lights, the jeeps, all the different attractions. But there is a sense of hominess that is. I wonder what adjectives we can use to describe even that parade that would convey kind of the heart and the character of Gatlinburg that is not going to go away. [19:29] Speaker B: No, for sure not. And as we elevate the production where it looks more polished for television and we're reaching a very significant amount of the US population who can visit the area. We want to make it real. People want real, you know. [19:44] Speaker A: Yeah. I think Gatlinburg provides that. Sometimes real is pretty humorous and funny. You can sit downtown and do a lot of fun. People watching, for sure. Just about every type of person comes to visit. And it's a wonderful. A gathering of people of America. [20:02] Speaker B: It is interesting for people who haven't visited here before, when they come during that time, people will put chairs out along the parkway, you know, the wrap days before. [20:10] Speaker A: Days before they wrap their plastic chairs. [20:13] Speaker B: And I can't think of any other city in America that you could come back and your chair would not be missing. You know, like, where's my chair? I left it here four days ago and it would still be there in the same spot. [20:23] Speaker A: I think that tradition started 25 years ago or more. [20:26] Speaker B: It's been a long time. [20:27] Speaker A: Two days before the parade, you will see, you know, the camp chairs just folded down and people have reserved their spot and everyone honors it. [20:36] Speaker B: Right. [20:36] Speaker A: It's an unspoken. [20:38] Speaker B: It's an unspoken loyalty amongst cheer pudders, I guess. Yeah. You know, one of the things we've done in the last couple of years not to just continue to talk about our Christmas parade, which is truly amazing if you haven't seen it, dear, at traffic light 3 when you come into town, we have created that whole area as a television zone. And we have multiple bleachers that we put up. Everybody who sits in the TV zone gets a Gatlinburg Santa hat. You know, we have all kinds of things that happen in that area. So when these floats come through this year, Coming up, we have a little bit of a change where they'll have moments very similar to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where they come in and they can actually do whatever it is they're doing if they're dancing or if they're showcasing their float or whatnot. So you'll see a little bit of a change this year, but ramping up something pretty big for the 50th. But what a great, great event and heritage to that. And it's 50 years for Christmas, 50 years next year for our, for our Fourth of July parade, which happens on midnight on the third, which is horrible, I gotta be honest, for all the staff, but the visitors love it. [21:43] Speaker A: You know, it's 12:01 on the parade. [21:45] Speaker B: It's 12:01. It's the very first 4th of July parade of the nation. It makes a very long day for our team. [21:51] Speaker A: And people still put out their chairs. [21:52] Speaker B: They do it and they still put out their chairs. Yeah. It's not as visited as the Christmas parade, which is by far the largest dependent that we do. And then we have a great New Year's Eve celebration which each and every year we up the game on the talent there. So the events in this town are continuing to getting better and better and that might be something that we look at. You know, we're talking about how do we keep the brand and keep the heritage and the culture that is the town, but continue to elevate it. I think some of the events and some of the talent that you'll see coming in the next couple years is going to do that. [23:57] Speaker A: Well, we have the arts and crafts community, the songwriters gathering, you know, and so forth. So there's the tales and tunes. [23:01] Speaker B: Yes. [23:02] Speaker A: Which really is hearkens back to just banjo picking on the front porch at the Gatlinburg Inn. Before there was tales and tunes. And so there are those heartwarming things that really, that convey the heart and character of Gatlinburg. [23:18] Speaker B: And you said the Gatlinburg Inn. I think a lot of people wouldn't realize that, you know, Gatlinburg, there's a. There's a very strong heritage to music from Gatlinburg I mean, Rocky Top, the world famous Rocky Top song was written right there at the Gatlinburg Inn. [23:32] Speaker A: In one of the rooms. [23:33] Speaker B: In one of the rooms. [23:33] Speaker A: And they still have a plaque on that room. And you can rent that room. [23:37] Speaker B: You can rent that room and more than likely play Rocky Top on your. On your. [23:41] Speaker A: And I imagine there's, you know, when you think of your childhood and the vision of the Ripley's famous awards and all of how that, you know, full circle in your life rolled around, there could be future musicians that are hearing the tales and tunes and singing. One day. I want to play the banjo like that, or I want to be able to sing or clog like that. And so there's a heritage that continues on generation after generation. [24:08] Speaker B: There sure is. There's actually quite a few stories. If you. If you follow some of their social media and talk to some of the musicians. A lot of them have come out of Nashville or have gone back to Nashville. I mean, they're very talented. They really are. And Ginger Brown, who heads that program up, she's amazing. I mean, I couldn't speak more highly enough about that whole group. And it really enhances the visitor when they come to town. I mean, it's music. We do it in summertime, we do it in the winter as well. And it's nice to have. It feels authentic because it is. And it gives us something to talk about that's positive. And it's free. If you want to come in and have some free entertainment on the streets, then there you go. [24:48] Speaker A: Yeah. One thing about coming to Gatlinburg, people, we want to have them leave with a positive experience. And so certainly the attractions, but it's the people that work here, the people that come to visit, and it's contagious when you're. When you're around people that enjoy where they're. Where they're at, where they're working, where they're living. It really permeates through all the tourists and all the people that are. The transient people that are coming in and out. One thing I love about our repeat guests is I often refer to them calling Gal Gatlinburg their second home. And that's a responsibility and a stewardship that we have as business owners and as leaders in the community to steward people's vacations and their second home and to preserve that. As you look towards the future and the leadership of Gatlinburg and the chamber, the Convention Visitors Bureau, what are some ways that you're hoping that we'll be able to Preserve the legacy in the history of Gatlinburg. [25:49] Speaker B: Well, you know, you look at some of the new restaurants and some of the new things that are being built in the area, and I just take several. For example, Crockett's, that opened up a few years ago, they took a concept that was all about breakfast camp, and then it preserved White Oak Flat, which was what Gatlinburg was before it was Gatlinburg. And then they told a story about it, and it was in their product and brand. So when you go there, not only are you getting an education about the history of town, but you're having an amazing experience in a beautiful place with a wonderful breakfast. [26:22] Speaker A: Their menu is a newspaper. [26:23] Speaker B: Their menu is a newspaper from White Oak Flats. And, you know, if you go through town, there's several incidences of that where you're like, wow, okay, that really told the story of what was happening here. So I think, you know, being able to craft things that are authentic. You talked about the arts and crafts community. I mean, how do we support that? It's the largest working artisan crafts community in America. The seven Mile loop that comes through there, and their stuff is spectacular. And making sure that that stays right, because where else can you find that you really can't? I couldn't name one place that you could go to that had an active artisan community and still had all the other amenities that you had right here. And so making sure that we're very conscious on where we want to go for infrastructure for the future, but making sure we absolutely protect the culture and the heritage of what we've done in the past. [27:19] Speaker A: Well, I appreciate your commitment to doing that, and I know there are many other leaders that we'll be talking to on the podcast that have that same heart, and I'm very confident we'll be able to maintain the integrity of the history and the stories of Gatlinburg. So thinking back to your childhood, and you had said, you know, spending summers here and what did you do as a child in Gatlinburg to have fun? [27:46] Speaker B: Some of them I can't say, because I would literally. We would go to China Bazaar, right, And I'd have to buy some Ninja stars. And I'm sure a few of them ended up in the park in a tree somewhere, which is probably a federal offense now that I'm, you know, I'm old. But we would always have to go to the park, right? And we would get people on a scavenger hunt. See if you can find Chad's Ninja up In Greenbrier? Yeah. No, but we kind of. Honestly, we kind of creatures of habit. We kind of did the same thing. My grandparents always wanted to walk town. They always wanted to do it in the evening. They'd always want to go through the village. We always had to throw coins into the fountain. We always had to do taffy. We did a couple of attractions, and in those days, they were a little bit different than they are now. But a lot of time in the park. You know, we spend a lot of time up in Greenbrier and the river and then some of the overlooks when you go up. So the other direction, Cades Cove. But a lot of time spent in the national park and just really enjoying the area and. Yeah, a lot of good. A lot of good memories. [28:52] Speaker A: When you think of spending an ideal day in Gatlinburg, what would that include? [28:56] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. Well, that's a loaded question, because I got 100 variations of what this is. [28:59] Speaker A: You only have 24 hours. [29:02] Speaker B: Well, it depends on the time of year. [29:03] Speaker A: Yes. [29:04] Speaker B: So my favorite time of the year is fall, in which, if you. If you've never been to Gatlinburg, and fall, it's magical. You know, the last weeks in October, first parts of November, really peak season, kind of for leaf looking. You know, you can, you know, kind of check on that. But that's historically what it's been. When I was a kid, it was like the third weekend in October, but now it's like the first weekend in November. I'm not sure what's happening in the world. [29:27] Speaker A: Ten years, it's been about the first weekend of November. Yeah. [29:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And so. And so when people are still thinking, hey, we're getting onto Thanksgiving, it's still just absolutely golden spectacular here, but falls by far my favorite time of the year. So a perfect day for me driving through the park, you know, maybe the motor nature trail in the fall. Definitely a picnic by one of the many waterfalls that you can see on that. On that route. [29:52] Speaker A: What's your favorite hike? [29:53] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. My favorite hike is probably. That's a tough one. That is a tough one. I've done leconte quite a few times. So probably that hike, even though it's painful, but, you know, going past Allen's Cave, the payoff. Yeah. Of going through Alum's Cave. Yeah. Some of our team have done it multiple. Multiple times. Some of our marketing team, they've, like, you know, one of them actually hiked the Appalachian Trail, you know, so that's impressive. [30:23] Speaker A: Very impressive, Gretchen. [30:24] Speaker B: It works. In our marketing team, she's actually hiked the Appalachian Trail. I'm like, okay, I did the width of the Appalachian Trail. I don't know if that counts. It's like three feet. So, you know, I need a shirt that says that. Such an accomplishment. But. But fall in Gatlinburg, you know, and if you wanted to do some of the attractions, there's so many great outdoor attractions. I mean, we have amazing chairlifts everywhere. You can, you know, get. Get that view and walking downtown and really just kind of breathing in what. What this place is, you know, it's nice. [30:54] Speaker A: And what do you do on your days off? I'm assuming you do take a few days off. [30:58] Speaker B: I have no idea what you mean. [30:59] Speaker A: Okay. [31:01] Speaker B: No, for sure. You know, on the days off, sometimes there's some hiking in there. You know, I literally just. I don't know. Two weekends ago, I went over to an area called the Sinks. I don't know if you're familiar with that. When you come in from the Townsend side of the park and some small trails up there, and look, some of the waterfalls. I mean, it's beautiful. You. It's such a magical place because when you walk into the national park and you hear all the sounds and the water, you're instantly transported. You know, you're definitely somewhere else. Right. And then within five seconds, you're back in town. So, you know, it's kind of a nice. You don't have to spend days and days away from something. You have that right there. You can literally park at the end of town and walk on the motor nature trail or walk on the Gatlinburg Trail and. And go up to Sugarlands and just have a nice experience by the river and really not have to go deep into the woods with a huge backpack. And, like, I'll see in four days. [31:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [31:58] Speaker B: So, you know, having these little small getaways, I think is. [32:02] Speaker A: That's great. [32:03] Speaker B: Is fun. Yeah. [32:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Most people think. They don't think that people actually live here. [32:07] Speaker B: Right. [32:08] Speaker A: Year round. [32:08] Speaker B: Exactly. [32:09] Speaker A: And so. And a lot of our employees will take days off, not on the weekends, because a little bit lighter load during the week, and they can get a lot more done on Monday and Tuesday on their days off and enjoy less traffic and so forth. But there's never really a normal week here in Gatlinburg. And with your type of job, I'm sure you're always on. There's always news. There's always challenges with weather, with travel, with holidays and all the seasonality that comes with that another thing that's interesting, Chad, is that you're really exposed to a lot of other markets. Sure. You've had experience in other markets, specifically in marketing and tourism. You know how Gatlinburg is distinct and different. But when you go to the state level or even the national level for the associations that you're involved in, what do you see as distinctly different about our experience here in Gatlinburg that they find at other tourist destinations? [33:04] Speaker B: You know, one of the things. And I sit on several state tourism boards and attend a lot of national and international conferences as it relates to visitation to the United States. And when they come in and they come to our area, where do they go? Right. One of the biggest takeaways. And when you're at the table with other destinations in DMOs, destination marketing organizations, we stand out the most because of the size and the amount of things there are to do here. So if you went to Nashville, which I love Nashville, you can't just park and you can't do everything to do in Nashville. Right. You could park on Broadway. You could do some. Several things, which is fantastic. But you have a lot of various experiences that you could have there. But one, you have to travel. You can't just experience that in one day. There's a lot of things. Same thing with Graceland and same thing with other markets, just primarily in our state. Right. So when you look at us as a destination, the amount of just overwhelmingly things there are to actually do, from attractions to hiking and biking and parks and zip lines and, you know, everything in our area, it really does stand out out that. And you. Like I said, you could park one time and it's safe. One of the biggest things that people comment on is that Gatlinburg is a safe place to visit. And right now, with what's happening in our world, that says a lot. You know, it really does. When you're looking at planning a family destination, you want to have that safety factor. [34:32] Speaker A: One thing I've noticed over the last few years is an increase of an ethnically diverse visitor, which is fantastic. [34:42] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [34:43] Speaker A: So when you walk downtown or I've walked on the Laurel Falls Trail, I heard about seven different languages going up the trail. I was like, wow, people from all over are learning about Gatlinburg. Really? You're a part of that, of marketing this story. How have you seen that trend changed? [35:02] Speaker B: You know, it's an interesting question, and it has actually changed over the last couple of years. During COVID we had a huge influx of larger destinations from Chicago and from New York and huge amounts of people who travel from Atlanta and Nashville and some of our feeder markets, but even further out than Washington, D.C. and they found Gatlinburg for the very first time. And now we're seeing a lot of repeat visitors from these markets, these very large markets where you would have a lot more ethnicities than we would here in East Tennessee. And so it's exciting to see, you know, and. And that. And one other thing, too, Tom, is. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Fred Dixon, who is now the president of brandusa, which is the largest travel brand organization in America, they're charged with bringing people to America. Right. Come to America. He started right here in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. [36:00] Speaker A: Wow. [36:01] Speaker B: Yeah. His mom, actually, his family owns the Gillette Motel across from the convention center, so. So you're talking about someone who now holds one of the most powerful positions as it pertains to bringing people from other countries, was originally from Gatlinburg, an amazing person, and you will see that. And we just. We met last week at the Governor's Conference and kind of talked through some of the things that we're doing. But you're starting to see a lot more international travel to America. And they were coming to Nashville, and then they stay longer. I think the average stay is like 17 days when they come in. And then they travel through the Great Smoky Mountains national park, the most visited national park, really, in America, but during COVID During. In the world, actually, at that time. And then they get to experience Gatlinburg for the very first time. [36:45] Speaker A: To me, it's very exciting. Oh, yeah, Very exciting. To open the doors to welcome people from all cultures and backgrounds, from all different nations that they can experience what we talked about, the character of Gatlinburg and the privilege that we have to maintain that character, to grow and to evolve as a community, increase our attractions and opportunities, but not lose the heart of the history that ties us to this fantastic place. [37:13] Speaker B: Absolutely. [37:14] Speaker A: Well, Chad, thanks so much for joining us. And also thank you for your role, your influence, your leadership in our community, where we see this as a pivotal time looking towards the future and the growth for the next 10 years. And I love hearing, and we all love hearing your heart, to maintain the character and the charm of Gatlinburg and allowing many more people to come experience that. But thanks for your role for the last 10 years, serving our community and being a voice and the face of Gatlinburg in so many ways. [37:46] Speaker B: Well, it's an absolute pleasure. Thank you. [37:48] Speaker A: And I hope to maybe get some of those Ripley Awards. So excellent awards. The best ofs. Maybe I have some and I'm just not even aware of. [37:57] Speaker B: You never know, you might for this podcast. [38:00] Speaker A: That'd be great. Okay. Have a great day. Thanks so much for joining us. [38:03] Speaker B: Thank you. [38:05] Speaker A: Thank you for joining me on this episode of for the Love of Gatlinburg. I hope you enjoyed exploring the stories that weave together the rich tapestry of our mountain town. Whether you're reminiscing about past visits or dreaming of your next adventure, remember that every corner of Gatlinburg has a story waiting to be discovered. If you loved what you heard today, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and review our podcast. Your support helps us share the charm and history of Gatlinburg with even more listeners. And don't forget to connect with us on social media. Until next time, keep the spirit of Gatlinburg alive in your hearts. Safe travels and see you soon. [53:20] Speaker B: It.