Gatlinburg TN economic situation (small business, pay, cars, service)

[Nashville Cat]

Everytime I go to Gatlinburg the streets are full of people and the cars are bumper to bumper. Is Gatlinburg doing well during this downturn or are all these people merely walking and driving to get away from home? I am thinking about starting a small business when I retire and want to know if this might be the place to do it? Does anyone know how businesses are doing in Gatlinburg?

[pinetar10]

What kind of business are you going to start? gatlinburg is a tourist town

[Nashville Cat]

Something suitable for the area, food service or retail of some type of specialty items.

[runrgirl]

My mother in law works in a dinner theater there and she said last fall around October is was slower than usual and they were worried but it picked back up around the Holiday and it was better than ever. My husbands grew up there and his family is still there and I've been there a lot. Yes, it is a huge tourist area and very busy. The traffic can be really terrible but it is very beautiful with the smokies and Dollywood is awesome. In my opinion I think a good business would be some type of food delivery to the hotels. Where your service picks up what they order from a restaurant and delivers to their room. At the end of a busy day especially those with small children I think would be more than willing to pay for restaurant food delivered to the comforts of their hotel suite. There are some great restaurants there and it gets so crowded at times I really think this would be good. I know I'd be willing to pay an extra 10 or 20 bucks for this service if I was on vacation there, especially if I had 2 or more crabby kids after a day in the mountains or at parks, etc.

[hiknapster]

It's slow. Even Dollywood has cut back several days. Try posting this on the Knoxville forum. You will get more answers.