May 18, 2013
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WVLT) --- The phones are ringing and staff are busy at work helping people check in.
Its business as usual at the Clarion Inn at Pigeon Forge.
But usual business here is not normal across the country.
Business as usual means expansion.
"Every month," General Manager Scott Ellis tells us with a smile, "every month we have been up from the previous month of the previous year."
Ellis just invested $35,000 into a new spa to help the hotel stand out. It's working, the website tripadvisor.com just ranked them the number one hotel in America.
They aren't alone in the growth, starting with DollyWood there have been millions of dollars in projects pumped into the area.
Its that investment that has sparked an unusual trend.
Pigeon Forge is the economic Twilight Zone.
While national unemployment hovers around 8.3% Pigeon Forge has seen growth, a lot of it.
This past year Amusement Revenue increased 25% and Hotels, like the Clarion, have jumped 17%.
They hope the jump in growth translates to a jump in jobs.
