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I have never been to Tennessee. I still think about it constantly as a market, because the numbers keep pulling me back.
Around 48 percent of Tennessee's population lives in two cities: Nashville and Memphis. The state holds roughly 7.4 million people, which makes it the 16th most populous state. When I was building Ladyshout, we launched in a market with a similar profile. Concentrated. Overlooked. Full of wins for anyone willing to look past the obvious choices.
The Tourism Numbers Tell the Story
Tennessee's tourism economy has grown 40 percent since 2018, nearly double the national rate. The state recorded 150 million visits in 2025. Visitors spent $89 million per day across the state, hitting a record $32.5 billion in direct visitor spending. That figure grew 2.7 percent year over year, against 1.9 percent nationally.
Nashville alone pulled in $11.6 billion from 17.4 million visitors, with growth driven by dining, concerts, and beverages. Food and beverage spending across the state rose 4.9 percent to $9.16 billion, which outpaces overall tourism growth.
Break the Nashville number down and it gets wilder. Visitors spend $31.8 million a day in the city. That works out to roughly 24 visitors for every resident. One county out of 95 takes about 35 percent of all visitor spending in the state. Nashville's visitor spending has grown 55.7 percent since 2018, with forecasts pointing to $17.4 billion by 2036. The airport handled a record 25.7 million passengers in 2025, and more than 16,000 hotel rooms sit in the development pipeline.
The food and beverage figure matters most if you own an RTD or spirit brand. The category your product lives in is growing faster than the market around it.
First Experience Is the Asset
Picture your product in a cocktail in a Nashville bar. A tourist tries it for the first time on a great night out. That memory travels home with them. "I remember drinking this first in Nashville."
Travelers are primed for exactly this moment. Research from United Airlines' Kinective Media and Marriott Media found that 75 percent of travelers feel more open to discovery while traveling, and 85 percent make unplanned purchases during their trips. A 2026 Expedia Group study found that 40 percent go on to shop online for foods and drinks they discovered while traveling. Vacation creates permission to try something new. Your brand gets attached to the memory.
Tennessee visitors also over-index on local dining and locally owned businesses compared to the national norm. On-premise accounts built around local authenticity give a new brand a credible home.
The Math on Market Selection
Here is how I think about it as a brand owner. In a concentrated market like Nashville, I need a manageable number of off-premise placements to reach profitability. The density of visitor spending does heavy lifting that my sales team would otherwise do in a sprawling coastal market.
Miami, Manhattan, Los Angeles, and Austin stay firmly on my roadmap. They are proven, high-value markets and essential for national reach. The question is the order. Walking into those cities with case volume, velocity data, and a story already behind you changes every conversation with distributors and buyers.
Nashville builds the case volume and the proof that carry a brand into those cities.
Depth Over Breadth
The lesson I take from this goes beyond Tennessee. Scale starts with deep distribution in one high-traffic market. That depth becomes the fuel for every market that follows.
Find your gateway market. Look for high tourist volume, manageable competition, and concentrated population. Build case volume and brand equity there first. Then take that momentum into Miami, Austin, and beyond from a position of cash flow.
Chase profitability before prestige. Tennessee sits at the top of my list for exactly that reason.
