Nashville’s historic streak of 70 consecutive months of record-breaking tourism numbers has come to an end, concluding an era defined by a new downtown convention center, thousands of new hotel rooms and the elevation of Music City as an international tourist destination.
The streak, the longest in U.S. history, ended in October, according to new data from STR made available by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. October would have set the all-time Nashville record for hotel tax collections, one of two metrics used by the industry to measure local tourism. The string of monthly room night records, however, did come to an end.
Instead of lamenting the broken streak, Nashville’s tourism chief said he anticipates a “new normal” where the city remains one of the nation’s most desirable destinations for business and leisure tourists. CVC President and CEO Butch Spyridon also challenged Nashville’s tourism leaders to not let up and be creative in working to draw visitors here.