Story By Katie Hightower
The 2024 Alabama Tourism Economic Report, published by the Alabama Tourism Department, showed growth for Jackson County. Tourism increased employment, earnings, revenue and lodging taxes for Jackson County.
Jackson County’s outdoors, historical sites and unique shopping experiences attracted over 1.5 million visitors to Jackson County last year. The increase in visitors created a higher demand for tourism-related jobs. Between 2022 and 2024, Jackson County saw travel-related employment opportunities increase from 1,094 to 1,200.
Visitors to Jackson County spent money on lodging, food, petroleum, personal items, clothes, outdoor gear and souvenirs. In 2024, the entire state of Alabama saw 29 million tourists spend $23.4 Billion. North Alabama drew $4,923,556,642 in travel-related expenditures while Jackson County’s travel-related expenditures saw a marked increase from $86,254,796 in 2022 to $93,584,474 last year. Jackson County also collected $28,320,757 in travel-related earnings for 2024—a 2.3% increase since last year.
Jackson County’s lodging tax revenue climbed from $531,112 in 2022 to $576,244 last year. Those tax dollars were reinvested into the community to draw future visitors to the area.
Not only has physical traffic to Jackson County increased, there was a marked increase in traffic on Jackson County’s social media channel. Between Nov. 1, 2024 and March 15, Jackson County’s social media visibility increased 20,286.7%. On Instagram, Jackson County ranked highest of all area counties in both organic video views and engagement, according to a report by Randi Gleason from Bullseye Digital Marketing.
Fishing Tournaments, hiking, camping, hunting, golfing and unique shopping experiences like Unclaimed Baggage and Patches Consignment all played a huge role in the attraction of visitors. The Scottsboro Boys Museum and the falls at Pisgah Gorge also saw visitors from all over the United States and foreign countries.
“Our community has something truly special and more people are taking notice,” said Lydia Pennington, Executive Director of Tourism for the Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce. “We’re thankful for the businesses, leaders and residents who help make Jackson County a place people want to visit—and come back to again and again.”
