Downtown Chattanooga sees uptick in tourism

Downtown Chattanooga has been a little busier this year.

Tennessee Aquarium Spokesperson says the area continues to attract people from all over the United States and internationally too.

There are new exhibits and plenty to see around the area.

Tennessee Aquarium Spokesperson Thom Benson says, “So far, it’s been a great spring here at the Tennessee Aquarium. We’ve got a brand new lemur forest exhibit, I think that has a lot to do with our success so far. We’re about 3% above what we were last year and last year was a pretty good year for us.”

One visitor is from Montréal and is in town on vacation visiting his sister in Alabama.

They decided to take a day trip to Chattanooga.

“It’s popular among tourists. They’ve got many attractions here. The Ruby Falls; the Lookout Mountain and the Aquarium of course,” explains Abhishek of Montréal.

Another couple came up last year and had such a good time, they came back again this year with family.

Peter Juergensen of Florida came, “mainly just enjoy the mountains and the scenery and spring. It’s already 90 degrees in Florida so it’s nicer here.”

The Creative Discovery Museum also sees attendance growth of a few percentage points higher, over last year.

They say with a few new exhibitions, people are hanging out longer than normal.

Executive Director, Henry Schulson of the Creative Discovery Museum notes that, “there are so many factors. I mean, gas prices can influence it. The weather can influence it; traffic patterns; all these different things can influence it. From our own standpoint, we’re becoming more sophisticated with social media and how we can reach people.”

The Tennessee Aquarium is planning it’s 25 year anniversary celebration.

They are also looking into changing the lower lobby area and moving the seahorse exhibit.

Economic impacts sit around 100-million-dollars per year.