Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains are launching a bold new tourism strategy: paying people to visit! Sevier County includes the popular vacation destinations of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, TN.
This week, the area will begin running online and television commercials to promote the “Smoky Mountain Paycation” campaign. You can watch one of the ads below:
Smoky Mountain Paycation
Vacationers who register to take a Smoky Mountain Paycation will receive a $500 Visa gift card, a lodging credit for a cabin rental and free tickets to the area’s hottest attractions.
In the press release, a media representative explains the genesis of the campaign:
“After the wildfires at the end of last year, there was a lot of misinformation about the Smokies. Some people thought that Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge had burned to the ground! We needed a big way to get people’s attention so we could let them know that all of the area’s attractions, restaurants, and shops are open for business.”
How to Sign Up for a Smoky Mountain Paycation
As detailed in the Smoky Mountain Paycation press release, visitors who register for the promotion will receive the following when they arrive:
• (1) Visa gift card for $500
• (1) voucher for a 3 night stay in a 2 bedroom cabin rental in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains
• 4 tickets to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg
• 4 tickets to the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge
• 4 tickets to the Country Tonite Music Show in Pigeon Forge
• 4 tickets to go whitewater rafting with Smoky Mountain Outdoors on the Pigeon River
Does this incredible vacation package sound too good to be true? Well…
Here’s the thing. We actually aren’t paying everyone who visits this year. The Smoky Mountain Paycation campaign is an April Fools’ Day joke.
However, Timber Tops Luxury Cabin Rentals really is giving one person all of the money and prizes listed above! (We swear!)
We do not sell your information and we are not affiliated with any timeshare company – we really are just giving away a free vacation!
To enter our Smoky Mountain Paycation Contest:
- You must share this blog on Facebook!
- You must also fill out the form below to register for a chance to win. One lucky winner will be randomly chosen on April 20, 2017 to receive a $500 Visa gift card, a cabin voucher, and attraction tickets to Ripley’s Aquarium, Dollywood, Country Tonite, and Smoky Mountain Outdoors. No joke!
Huge Economic Impact Anticipated
The idea of paying vacationers to visit came from a similar program implemented in Osaka, Japan in the late 1990s. Osaka’s decade-long campaign transformed the struggling port city into one of the world’s most-visited destinations.
We’re banking on the Smoky Mountain Paycation plan having an Osaka-sized economic impact on the area. “Our hope,” says a spokesperson “is that lots of people visit the Smokies, they spend some of the money we gave them at local businesses, and they come back again and again.”
Boston-based economist Dr. Steven Burnham predicts that the Paycation campaign will increase tourism in the Smoky Mountains by 50 – 60%, which will ultimately add millions of dollars to the local economy. Dr. Burnham explains:
“Giving vacationers $500 to spend will provide a Keynesian-style stimulus to Sevier County’s economy. In layman’s terms: you need to spend money to make money.”
Here’s the thing. We actually aren’t paying everyone who visits this year. The Smoky Mountain Paycation campaign is an April Fools’ Day joke.
However, Timber Tops Luxury Cabin Rentals really is giving one person all of the money and prizes listed above! (We swear!)
Be sure and share this with your friends to complete your entry process.
