Visitors spent a total of $4.05M in Cannon County during 2016

Guests spent a total of $4.05 million in Cannon County in 2016, an increase of 0.5% compared to 2015, according to information released last week by the U.S. Travel Association.

That amount generated a total of $0.25 million in state and $0.29 million in local tax revenues, increases of 2.3% and 1.1%, respectively.

According to the USTA, a total of 12 Cannon Countians are employed in tourism-related fields.

Among the top tourist attractions in Cannon County are the Short Mountain Distillery, Readyville Mill, Moonlite Drive-In and the Arts Center of Cannon County. The antique stores in downtown Woodbury also draw out-of-county visitors, and the Cannon Inn is where many of the guests who visit Cannon County stay.

In addition, annual events such as Good Ole Days, Christmas on the Square and the upcoming Color of Fall Car Show draw visitors to the Cannon County community.

• Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Kevin Triplett announced last week Tennessee tourism's direct domestic and international travel expenditures reached an all-time record high of $19.3 billion in 2016, up 4.7 percent over the previous year, as reported by the USTA.

For the 11th consecutive year, tourism topped $1 billion in state and local sales tax revenue, reaching $1.7 billion. That marks a 6.7 percent increase over 2015, higher than the national growth of travel related state tax revenues. Tourism generated 176,500 jobs for Tennesseans, a 3.3 percent growth year over year.

"More people from around the world continue to visit Tennessee each year," Haslam said. "The $1.7 billion in sales tax revenue and job growth are good news for everyone in Tennessee. The hard work of the tourism industry, led by the Department of Tourist Development and Tennessee Tourism Committee, continues to produce record results and dedication to boost Tennessee's economy."

Five counties exceeded one billion in travel expenditures including Davidson ($5.996 billion), Shelby ($3.335 billion), Sevier ($2.217 billion), Hamilton ($1.060 billion), and Knox ($1.056 billion). All 95 counties saw more than $1 million in direct travel expenditures in the economic impact of tourism and 19 counties saw more than $100 million.