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What is the most popular attraction in the state of Tennessee?


soverbey

What is the most famous attraction in the state of Tennessee?  

94 members have voted

  1. 1. What is the most famous attraction in the state of Tennessee?

    • Tennessee Aquarium (Chattanooga)
      5
    • Dollywood (Pigeon Forge)
      5
    • Beale Street (Memphis)
      16
    • Grand Ole Opry (Nashville)
      13
    • Graceland (Memphis)
      21
    • Smoky Mountains Park
      29
    • National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis)
      2
    • Rock City (Chattanooga)
      2
    • Sun Studio (Memphis)
      0
    • The Parthenon (Nashville)
      0
    • Old City (Knoxville)
      0
    • Other
      1


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The Smokey Mountains and Graceland. Hard to count tourists to a park but I voted Graceland because it probably gets the most out of town visitors. How may Memphians have actually been to Graceland without a visitior? Not many. Graceland gets the most press too.

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where is neyland stadium on that list? they have 108,000 people there every home game. that adds up rather quickly. i say if they count bristol on that list of 50, then they should count football stadiums as well (along with basketball and baseball stadiums).

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I've seen that list before and it makes me question what is counted as a tourist. I would've never guessed the most visited attraction in Memphis was Putt Putt :rofl: Its not a tourist destination, but a local attraction. Laser tag, batting cages, go-karts, driving range, arcade, simulated rollercoaster, and putt putt.

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Beale St and Graceland. Beale St has grown in popularity I think over the past couple of years due to the FedEx Forum, Peabody Place, and growth in south downtown. Graceland probably gets more visitors, but Beale St isn't far behind.

I think Beale Street gets far more visitors than Graceland. Beale is free to stroll along, and is therefore almost impossible to measure how many people visit, though. Isn't it the most visited tourist attraction in Tennessee? I think I remember that Pink Palace might have been up there too (or maybe that was just museums), but there's a huge number of locals.

I think so far Beale has been able to strike a good balance. I just hope the number of independent/locally-based establishments (BB's included) stay the same or grow. It seems to be a nice starting off point for many locally-based chains (BB's, Silky Sullivan's-- I think there's one in N.O., the Pig is opening a second location in Desoto County, I think). HOpefully they can all grow, and maybe Alfred's and Rum Boogie can maybe open up other locations (don't want any of them to become too ubiquitous like HRC that they lose their luster, though).

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Here are the figures for 2004, the link has the top 50.

http://www.state.tn.us/tourdev/pdf/top50nr.pdf

1. Dollywood 2,400,000

2. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies 1,600,000

3. Bristol Motor Speedway 1,145,000

4. Ober Gatlinburg 865,623

5. Tennessee Aquarium 856,000

That's of those who reported attendance. Graceland isn't up there (although I don't think they would've beaten Dollywood based on those numbers). Beale is almost impossible to quantify; I would bet more than 2.4 mill go through there, and how do you distinguish the folks who look around inside the establishments (without buying) and those who attend often-free concerts at the pavilion and watch the flippers (and often paying 'em tips) from those just strolling through?

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yeah, I think when you look at most popular, that's different from most famous. When I read this poll, I'm thinking that I ask someone in x city "hey, what place or attraction do you think of when you think of Tennessee?" I would think it would have to be Graceland or Grand Ole Opry. I would have never heard of Beale street except here and from my wife's family, and my roots run deep through the south.

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yeah, I think when you look at most popular, that's different from most famous. When I read this poll, I'm thinking that I ask someone in x city "hey, what place or attraction do you think of when you think of Tennessee?" I would think it would have to be Graceland or Grand Ole Opry. I would have never heard of Beale street except here and from my wife's family, and my roots run deep through the south.

I agree. I live in Michigan and I have yet to meet someone who knows what Beale Street is. In my experiences, the Grand Ole Opry and country music is known to people in the Western society. Almost everyone in touch with modern society knows Elvis.

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I voted for the Smokey Mountains, considering that it is the most visited National Park in America. I think it had around, what, 10 million visitors?

I believe the number is somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 million visitors a year. It's far and away the most visited National Park in the USA, and Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and all the attractions in those towns wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the Great Smokey Mountain Park. It's the slam dunk winner as the most popular attraction in Tennessee.

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