Let’s say your livelihood doesn’t depend on tourism.

You don’t own a convenience store that profits from sales of gasoline, snacks and soda to visitors. Or you’re not employed by a restaurant or hotel that caters to out-of-town guests.

If you pay taxes—property or sales taxes—to local and state government, you can thank our visitors for saving you $127 every year.

That is the broad average of taxes that “locals” would have to pay to maintain public services if tourists were not picking up the tab. Those services include schools, ambulances, roads, street lighting and public safety.

By transferring a portion of basic government costs to out-of-towners, “there is a savings of $127 for every household in Warren County,” Jordan Pupols told The Rotary Club of McMinnville at its weekly luncheon Thursday at First Presbyterian Church.

Direct spending by visitors in Warren County amounted to $20.5 million in 2023, generating $2 million in state and local taxes, Pupols, the tourism and marketing director for McMinnville City government, told the 103-year-old civic club.

The largest portion of that revenue went to the state, and a major slice of that pie came back to Warren County to pay public school teachers, administrators, custodians, counselors and safety officers.

Across the state, tourism pours $1.25 billion into city and county coffers and another $1.9 billion into the general fund, said Ashley DeRossett, Middle Tennessee coordinator for the state’s Department of Tourism Development.

“We are the fastest growing of the top 40 states since 2018,” she noted, emphasizing that the Volunteer State is “the only one without a beach or casino” to rank in the highest tier of tourism growth.

“”This is why it’s important to your community,” DeRossett insisted, pointing to the subtle but substantial economic boost that tourist dollars bring to virtually all public services, even if those dollars are collected in counties other than Warren.

When you see cyclists pedaling along highway shoulders, show some Southern courtesy and pull safely to the left. Thanks to its moderate climate and scenic highways, Tennessee is fast becoming a magnet for bicycle enthusiasts, all of whom spend money in local communities like McMinnville, DeRossett said.

DeRossett and Pupols share more insights and suggestions on tourism promotion when they appear this week on McMinnville Public Radio 91.3-WCPI. The half-hour conversation airs Saturday at 9:35 a.m.