Tennessee Tourism Unveils 2020 Vacation Guide

NASHVILLE, TN  – Jan. 8, 2020 - The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development unveiled its official 2020 Tennessee Vacation Guide today. For the first time, the guide features three distinct covers that showcase the breadth of picturesque landscapes across the state, including treasures like Reelfoot Lake State Park in Tiptonville, Machine Falls at Short Springs Natural Area in Tullahoma and Jane Bald at Roan Mountain. Tennessee is home to 10,000 caves, 500-plus cascading waterfalls, 56 state parks, thousands of miles of creeks, streams and rivers and 500,000 acres of ponds and lakes and America’s No. 1 most-visited national park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Designed to inspire travel, the magazine-style guide highlights Tennessee’s scenic beauty, thriving urban cities, charming small towns, music, rich history, world-class museums, creative spirit and culinary excellence. The Franklin, Tennessee-based Journal Communications, Inc. produces the guide, which is distributed to nearly 500,000 visitors annually.

Within the pages of the 2020 Tennessee Vacation Guide, readers will find:

“Take it Outside” – Tennessee is an outdoor playground, with awe-inspiring views and heart-pumping adventures that can only be “Made in Tennessee” such as fishing, hiking, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, caving, camping, rock climbing, boating, ziplining, waterskiing, parasailing, wildlife watching, geocaching, waterfalls and stunning overlooks.

“Urban Explorations” – Each of Tennessee’s major cities have something interesting and unique to offer, from attractions and dining to music and family memories

“Women Who Shaped TN & The World” – It’s been 100 years since women earned the right to vote in the United States. A century later, female powerhouses are the driving force behind many Tennessee restaurants, shops, music, distilleries and sports.

“New & Noteworthy” – Opening in 2020, uncover some of Tennessee’s newest attractions like Soaky Mountain Waterpark in Sevierville, the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville and One Beale in Memphis.

“The History of Country Music” – Explore the iconic people and places that inspired the music as seen in Ken Burns’ “Country Music” documentary on PBS. Home to seven genres of music, trace Tennessee’s musical roots along the Tennessee Music Pathways. Visitors can then make their own pilgrimage and earn commemorative souvenirs using the official “Country Music Passport” included in the guide.

The guide also features Kid-Reviewed family attractions, Southern comfort food classics to scratch off the bucket list, products made in Tennessee from candy and whiskey to boats and bats, off-the-beaten path places in rural Tennessee, road trip adventures throughout the state’s 95 counties on the Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways, annual events, a pull-out map of visitor services, travel resources, stunning photography and noted writers profiling the places, people and events that attract more than 119 million visitor stays to Tennessee each year.

The 2020 Vacation Guide is available for free as a printed guide or e-guide download at tnvacation.com and is also available at any of Tennessee’s 16 Welcome Centers. Welcome Centers will vary in which cover edition they feature and will only display one version of the guide at a time. 

For more information or additional photos, contact Jill Kilgore, public relations media manager for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, at 615-927-1320 or by email at Jill.Kilgore@tn.gov.

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About the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development

Tennessee is the home of the blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, soul, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll-delivering an unparalleled experience of beauty, history and family adventure, infused with music that creates a vacation that is “The Soundtrack of America. Made in Tennessee.” Tennessee’s tourism industry generates $22.02 billion in economic impact, more than $1.81 billion in state and local tax revenue and more than 189,757 tourism-related jobs. Explore more at tnvacation.com and join other Tennessee travelers by following “tnvacation” on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube or “Tennessee” on Snapchat.