What is a Tourism Dominant City?

The top ten US tourism destinations, according to Infoplease, are in large cities. They include Times Square, Faneuil Hall, Central Park, Disneyland, Disney World, and Las Vegas. These attractions are located in cities that range in population from over eight million in New York City to nearly 250,000 in Orlando. And if you want to rely on the technical qualification that Disney World is actually in Kissimmee, it still has a population of over 68,000. So, what about the tourism towns that dot the US landscape. The places people go to get away from it all – and in the process find more people than they left. These are tourism dominant cities. Cities whose entire economy depend on tourism. They are generally small resort towns, such as Gatlinburg, Aspen, Destin, Old Orchard Beach, Cape May, and Frankenmuth, among others. Over the next few months, we will talk about the issues and opportunities of these communities.

Let’s start with a working definition of a tourism community (and yes, I do recognize this will leave out many of the most popular visited locales in the country): The community has a much smaller year-round population than its seasonal high population. There will be little other industry or economic activity in the community that does not support tourism, either directly or indirectly. There will be some draw to this area besides family, friends, or business services.

Why is this definition important? Communities that have a strong visitor attraction but are larger and more diverse do not have the same issues. They absorb the visitors with greater ease and their diversity creates more political variance in the decision-making than in single focus, smaller entities. Cities without the high seasonal fluctuations can also plan for and absorb the traffic and the staffing needs as their needs are balanced throughout the year. There are many retail “Power-centers” which are located nearby major metropolitan areas that serve as retail and restaurant hubs. While these communities may share some common issues with resort communities, their traffic patterns are daily as opposed to the visitor who comes and stays for a period of time lasting from a few days to a season. 

So why are tourism dominant communities a “thing?”  Collectively they all face similar issues, similar benefits, and likely have more in common with each other than they do with nearby jurisdictions that are not tourism dominant communities.  And there are fewer of them across the United States.  Retail hubs, industrial hubs, college towns are everywhere but tourism dominant communities are usually limited to a few towns in each state or to a few states — Maine, Colorado, Florida, and California have a great number of them.  

In future posts, we will look at how these towns developed, what their issues are, and how you know how to recognize one.