Smokies Tourism Numbers Down
Visits to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park remain behind the numbers from last year.
With figures released Monday, the National Park Service said visitation for 2011 through September was off 6.2 percent from 2010.
For September, the number of visitors coming into the Smokies at the three main entrances was off by 10.4 percent at Gatlinburg, 11.1 percent at Townsend and 7.3 percent at Cherokee.
Statistically, visits for September were up 4.4 percent overall, but officials say the apparent 88 percent increase at the Foothill Parkway entrance in Cock County was because a counter that didn’t function in September 2010 is now working.
From January through September of this year, nearly 7 million people have visited the Smokies.
October is one of the busiest months because of fall foliage.
