regional tourism

Nashville, Thursday, 4 December 2025.
Tennessee announced last Wednesday a coordinated, statewide surge of tourism projects set to open through 2026, led by Nashville’s Songteller Hotel and a new Memphis Art Museum. For retail and experience operators this is not isolated openings but a strategic stacking of branded hotels, cultural campuses, park refurbishments and festival programming designed to redistribute demand beyond traditional corridors. The most intriguing fact: public and private stakeholders are aligning openings to shape visitation patterns statewide, creating simultaneous peaks that will intensify competition for development sites, labour and transport capacity. That clustering raises short-term operational pressures — workforce recruitment, inventory flow, last-mile logistics and overtrading — while opening medium-term opportunities for IP-driven retail partnerships, multisite loyalty capture and experience-retail bundles. Practical next steps for retailers: model demand dispersion by market, secure flexible supply chains, plan seasonal staffing ramps and prioritise partnership deals with destination IP holders. This reshapes 2026 Tennessee investment landscape.

Yongin, Saturday, 25 October 2025.
Everland’s prominent placement in 2025 Yongin destination guides cements its status as South Korea’s largest amusement park and a linchpin for regional visitation and spending. For retail and hospitality planners, that visibility signals predictable inbound windows, higher demand for F&B and merchandise assortments, and opportunities for coordinated capacity and event programming. The park’s recent attractions — notably the Panda 2nd House drawing roughly 60,000 visitors in its first weeks and viral content surpassing millions of views — amplify day-trip conversions into extended stays, increasing hotel occupancy and retail sales. Stakeholders should anticipate impacts on transport flows, seasonality forecasts, and cross-promotional packages with nearby assets like Caribbean Bay and the Korean Folk Village. Quick wins include targeted assortment shifts for peak demographics, dynamic pricing for F&B, and synchronized event calendars with municipal marketing. Guidebook prominence coupled with high-profile attractions creates opportunity to capture incremental revenue in lodging, retail and dining channels.