Group Tour Spotlight, a monthly online magazine for the group industry, named Pigeon Forge Winterfest one of three “Best Fests” for December. Winterfest, now in its 17th year, continues through February. It is credited with creating a new tourism season for the city
The other two “Best Fests,” according to editor Carol Smith and managing editor Dave Hoekman, were the Ozark Mountain Christmas festival in Branson, Mo., and the Quebec Winter Carnival in Canada.
The coverage cited Pigeon Forge Winterfest components such as the display of five million holiday lights, the trolley tours to see those lights, Wilderness Wildlife Week, the Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival and the cowboy music and poetry celebration called Saddle Up!
“Group Tour Magazine has its finger on the pulse of the group travel industry, so it’s very notable to be singled out in this fashion,” said Kay Powell, assistant director of Tourism for Pigeon Forge. Earlier this year, readers of another group travel trade magazine saluted Pigeon Forge as one of three North American cities where group travelers “get the most bang for their bucks.”
In that poll, tour operators from across the U.S. and Canada named Pigeon Forge, Branson and Washington to their list of destinations that give great value to their customers. “Group tours are extremely important to Pigeon Forge and every other Tennessee destination,” said Powell, whose department has three employees devoted to the group travel market.
Pigeon Forge Winterfest has been named the Festival of the Year three times by the Southeast Tourism Society and the Top Event in the U.S. by the American Bus Association.
Information provided The Mountain Press