Counties of Membership: Blount, Cocke,
Green, Jefferson, Monroe, Polk, Sevier, Washington, TN & Ashe, Avery,
Buncombe, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson,
Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yance,
NC.
About Us:
WELCOME to the Smoky Mountains Chamber of Commerce! The Chamber was formed to address quite a few issues that have existed for some time. Our motto is "One Chamber, Representing The Entire Smoky Mountains Area!" We believe that Guests, in excess of 10 million in numbers, come to visit the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding area, and do not come to visit Gatlinburg, or Pigeon Forge, or Sevierville, or Cherokee exclusively. It would be a rare vacationer, indeed, that went to one of these fabulous cities and not any of the others!
All of the cities have one thing in common, and that is the Great Smoky Mountains! Friends, 10 million plus visitors is more than enough to go around. Envision yourself opening up a museum, in say, Wears Valley. Out of necessity, you will probably end up running ads in each of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and possibly Cherokee's Chambers and/or Department's of Tourism, if allowed to do so as an associate. Some divisions absolutely prohibit your presence in their membership and or websites. So you embark on your own advertising campaign, put thousands of dollars into your own website, and send out your own brochure at today's postage rate of 33 cents per ounce, and countless hours submitting your website, while thousands of inquiry's are made daily in Chambers & Dept. of Tourism's within 10 miles from you. Lets say you do convince a family to come to Wears Valley and visit your museum, you can "bet the house" that they will spend some time in a few if not all cities that you are not allowed to be a part of or co-op advertise with.
If you don't consider the above ironic, consider this: 25 years ago when vacationers came to the Great Smoky Mountains, they might remember the name Goldrush Junction, However, remembering the names Pigeon Forge or Sevierville would have been unlikely. These vacationer's spent their time in the mountains, Cade's Cove, or walking the strip in Gatlinburg. They may have held in amazement the considerable talents of the Craftsmen, that were handed down from generation to generation. Many of these Craftsmen were forced from the Parkway due to sky-high rental/leases in the establishments they themselves nurtured into being! Friends, we are flat out "missing the boat" by not doing everything possible to promote this overlooked business sector. Many, many resort areas have attractions, shows, water parks, theme parks, wonderful restaurants, go karts, golf and fishing. We have two very unique areas to offer...the Great Smoky Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains ARTS & CRAFTS AREA! Craftsmen throughout the Smokies will be just one focal points of the Chamber.
Copyright © 2000 Smoky Mountains Chamber Of Commerce
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