Nashville tourism leaders unveil bold plan to manage rapid growth with safety (2024)

Nashville needs to undergo big changes to get its house ready for more visitors over the next decade and to maintain Music City's ascent, according to a sweeping new long-term strategy from its chief tourism executives.

"The Music City Strategic Plan," released to The Tennessean Thursday morning, calls on Metro Nashville to increase policing, asks bar owners to deter raucous behavior and challenges hospitality industry leaders to show support for improvements, among other recommendations.

"We have a great destination, but we also need to take care of it," said Deana Ivey, the president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. "And we want to make sure that growth continues. The plan is our roadmap to tell us what we need to take care of."

The report says Nashville's reputation is threatened by "alcohol overconsumption, drug use and brawling," among other concerns.

Facing the challenges of ever-growing Music City tourism

It outlines eight objectives to push back on the problems and create several advisory groups and marketing campaigns to move the recommendations forward.

Ivey co-chaired the report's strategic-planning groups with Colin Reed, executive chairman of Ryman Hospitality Properties, operator of some of Nashville's most famous brands including Opryland. Dozens of downtown business leaders took a hard look at the city to help develop the plan — from Garth Brooks' honky-tonk partner Max Goldberg and Metro Planning Director Lucy Kempf, to Titans President Burke Nihill and Fifth Third Bank executive Kevin Lavender.

"I think it tells a really powerful story about where we are as a city, how fragile and important this music-based entertainment is, and how the global growth is taking place as these artists are connecting with consumers all across the planet," Reed said. "And how this will stimulate future growth in this wonderful town."

The group has been meeting since late 2022 to address the biggest challenges facing Nashville's tourism industry. Their plan comes the same week as the Davidson County Medical Examiner's office released Riley Strain's autopsy report, revealing the 22-year-old visiting college student's excessive alcohol intoxication contributed to his accidental drowning after he left friends on Lower Broadway on March 8.

The tourism report found that: "A thriving hub in the heart of Nashville, the Downtown Tourism District has faced considerable challenges recently. Current issues on Broadway, such as overconsumption, overcrowding, and noise pollution, damage Nashville’s reputation as a warm, welcoming city."

It calls for more Metro Nashville police officers, added family-friendly attractions and, among other things, creates a Music City Local Host Committee of hospitality CEOs to attract big events, advise government leaders and raise private funds for events at the new Nissan Stadium.

The strategic plan is backed by some of the most influential voices in Nashville's hospitality industry. In the working group were leaders representing organizations like the Nashville Downtown Partnership, the Nashville International Airport, the Country Music Association and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Uniting state, local politicians around tourism growth

Tensions reached a fever pitch last year between Nashville's Democratic-leaning political leaders and Tennessee's Republican elected officials.

After Metro Nashville Council members rejected a bid for the 2024 Republican National Convention in 2022, state leaders lashed out against what they said was bad local fiscal management. Last year, state officials attempted to take over the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners and sought to cut the number of Metro Council members from 40 to 20.

Reed said the simmering tension is bad for tourism.

"We’re going to be sitting down with state leadership to present the impact of our industry. I’m hopeful we can have a calming effect," Reed said. "It’s about the education of these folks so they truly understand the power of this industry and where it is going."

Ivey said improving the experience for tourists downtown and maintaining Nashville's positive reputation is a top priority.

"If we don’t take care of our business and keep the city safe and clean, all that can go away," Ivey said. "It can go away quickly and the spigot could be turned off. That would be a real problem for this city."

They proposed new marketing campaigns highlighting the positive while also encouraging hospitality leaders to do more to curb the problems.

The city saw a record 16.8 million visitors in 2023, and direct visitor spending amounted to $10.56 billion, up 6% from the year prior. The hospitality industry employs more than 70,000 people locally.

That's a dramatically different picture than just a decade ago.

"We’ve evolved," Reed said. "The things we are thinking about today as an industry are very different from the things we thought about a decade ago."

Moderate projections show that, within a decade, the number of tourists visiting Nashville could swell to more than 20 million people a year. Those tourists would leave behind hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues for Davidson County and the state of Tennessee, according to the report. Annual direct visitor spending could reach as high as $20 billion in 2034 if the growth of tourism keeps its current historic pace.

Growth in the hotel industry has also soared, resulting in increased revenue from the city's lodging taxes. The most aggressive revenue growth has come from the hotel occupancy tax, which has soared more than 262% over the past decade.

Hotel room supply has grown 59% since 2013, and more than 13,000 hotel rooms are currently in various stages of development, in addition to the approximately 40,000 that already exist.

Beyond downtown: Spreading the wealth with new housing, transit

While downtown's Lower Broadway is the most concentrated tourism hub, Nashville's distinct neighborhoods are increasingly on the list for visitors.

Neighborhoods like East Nashville, Germantown and the Gulch are especially popular for repeat visitors, and areas outside of downtown are noticed for their culturally diverse businesses and attractions.

That's why the strategic plan recommends the expansion of family-friendly attractions and increased support for Nashville's racially and ethnically diverse business owners.

"I think people misunderstand, or they assume, that the only tourism that is here are the people who are drinking on Broadway," Ivey said. "They don’t realize that there are visitors throughout all the neighborhoods."

Attracting a growing number of international tourists is a key priority as well. The report recommends additional global marketing focused on "ensuring an authentic and welcoming Nashville experience."

Reed said when it comes to supporting city-led efforts to expand access to public transportation and affordable housing, some of the dozens of hospitality leaders who contributed to the plan should be willing to throw support to the work.

"I’m very hopeful that these people will be supporting initiatives from elected officials," Reed said.

The report itself stresses the importance of robust attainable housing near the downtown core for the city's hospitality workers and creative community who work near downtown every day.

"We are pleased to hear that Mayor O’Connell will be proposing a transit initiative in 2024 and the industry will look forward to doing its part to advocate for greater investment in affordable public (transportation) for the benefit of our workforce and our visitors," the report says.

Reducing crime and improving the city's reputation

While overall crime only rose 1% from 2019 to 2022, violent crime jumped from 21% to 25% — mostly in areas frequented by tourists, the report states.

"We must combat a mentality that 'tourism at all costs' is healthy for our city’s growth and progress," says the report.

Solutions proposed are more security cameras, better street lighting, stricter rules for vendors and training for hospitality workers to help sexual assault victims and to intervene in dangerous situations, among others.

And it argues police staffing and pay, which starts at $45,000, should be increased.

"MNPD currently is roughly 200 officers short of budgeted officer staffing levels, the minimum headcount necessary for effective performance," the report states. "MNPD is struggling to attract, recruit, and retain police officers. This pay scale is problematic in a city experiencing significant cost of living increases. According to one analysis performed in 2022, the average compensation for the MNPD ranks ninth among police departments in Tennessee."

While downtown Nashville's problematic reputation is based in some fact, the area gets a bad rap considering its outsized economic contribution to the county, the report says.

"Hospitality is the second largest industry in Nashville and Tennessee, directly employing more than 70,000 residents," states the report. "Music City’s reputation, major events and new state-of-the-art hospitality assets are sources of pride and enjoyment for Nashvillians."

The report recommends a "communications campaign" focused on the hospitality industry's large economic impact and highlighting its community assets like restaurants, sports arenas and concert venues.

"Despite these benefits, in recent years, many residents have blamed the tourism industry solely for the angst many feel due to the city’s recent growth challenges," it states.