We've compiled general information about Memphis, as well as local travel statistics, to make your job easier.
We've compiled general information about Memphis, as well as local travel statistics, to make your job easier.
TOURISM STATISTICS
- 2021 Annual Visitors: 10.7M+
- Leisure & Hospitality Jobs in Shelby County in 2020: 39.5K
- Leisure & Hospitality Businesses in Shelby County: 2,000+
- 2020 Annual Economic Impact of Domestic Visitors: $2.572B
- State Tax Receipts Generated: $175M
- Local Tax Receipts Generated: $149M
TOP TRAVEL MOTIVATORS
Over three-quarters of all Memphis attraction visitors report experiencing the music unique to Memphis was a key reason they chose to come here, ranking the importance of Memphis as a seven or above on a scale of ten—and over 60 percent of these music-influenced travelers ranked music as a nine or a ten in importance.
Only 15 percent of Memphis attraction visitors reported that experiencing live music was not a priority for them during their trip to Memphis; over three-quarters of surveyed Memphis attraction visitors had either already experienced live music during their trip or reported having definite plans to seek out a live music experience during their time here.
LEISURE TRAVELER PROFILE
Based on an always-on digital survey strategy, we have considerable insight into the characteristics of a Memphis visitors
- Average Number of Adults in Attraction Travel Parties: 1.9 Adults
- Share of Memphis Attraction Travel Parties that Include Children: 47%
- Average Number of Children in Attraction Family Travel Parties: 1.3 Children
- Average Nightly Expenditures for Overnight Travel Parties: $742 Nightly
- Average Length of Stay for Overnight Travel Parties: 3.1 Nights
- Share of Travel Parties Staying Overnight: 63%
- Share of Overnight Travel Parties Staying in Hotels: 61.7%
2019 HOTEL INDUSTRY
Total Number of Hotel Rooms Downtown: 3,326
2019 UNITED STATES TRAVEL & TOURISM INDUSTRY
• 2.3 billion domestic person-trips were taken in the U.S. in 2018, up 1.9 percent from 2017.
• 79.6 million international visitors arrived in the U.S. in 2018, up 3.5 percent from 2017.
• 39.9 million international visits were from overseas (excluding Canada and Mexico), a 2.5 percent increase from 2017.
• Nearly $1.1 trillion was spent by domestic and international travelers in 2018, up 4.9 percent from 2017.
• Domestic and international travel spending generated 8.9 million jobs in 2018, up 1.3 percent from 2017.
• Travel spending generated $268 billion in wages and salaries for American workers, up 3.6 percent from 2017.
• Travel spending also raised $171 billion in tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments, up 4 percent from 2017.
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Official city flower |
Crepe Myrtle |
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Official city tree |
Dogwood |
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Colleges and universities |
Christian Brothers University 1871 |
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Major businesses headquartered in Memphis |
FedEx, International Paper, AutoZone, ServiceMaster, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Indigo AG, Ducks Unlimited, First Horizon National Corp., Mueller Industries, Thomas & Betts |
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Elevation |
Airport: 331’ above sea level |
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Founded |
1819. Incorporated 1826. |
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Climate |
Average annual: 72.4 |
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Precipitation |
Average annual rainfall: 53.67” |
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Government |
Mayor and City Council |
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Total area in square miles |
315.06 |
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Memphis park services |
166 parks with a total of 3,219 acres. |
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Tallest buildings |
100 North Main: 430’, 37 stories |
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Historical landmarks |
Beale Street, Chucalissa, Graceland, Sun Studio, Cotton Row Historic District, Davies Manor Plantation, Elmwood Cemetery, Victorian Village area |
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Entertainment districts |
Beale Street Entertainment District |
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City of Memphis and surrounding areas |
The 2018 population of the Memphis-MSA is 1,342,349 |
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Major ethnic groups (2019) |
White: 29.21%; Black: 63.91%; Hispanic: 6.49%, Asian: 1.57% |
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Males/Females and median age |
Males: 48%; Females: 52%. Median resident age 33.3 |
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Population of Tennessee |
6.77 million. Tennessee is the 17th largest state in the U.S. |
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Hotel room nights generated in 2019 |
189+K |
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Meetings, conventions and events in 2019 |
400+ |
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Economic impact for 2019 |
$141+M |
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Renasant Convention Center |
350,000 square feet of convention space. 31 breakout rooms. 28,000 square foot ballroom accommodating 2,000 people |
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Cannon Center for the Performing Arts |
2,100 seat multi-purpose facility |
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FedExForum |
A capacity of 18,600, FedExForum is a sports and entertainment arena with multiple additional meeting rooms |
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University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology |
State-of-the-art facility with 190-seat tiered amphitheater, 85-seat high-definition presentation theater and 17 meeting rooms |
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Agricenter International |
14,000 square foot facility with 800 seat amphitheater / auditorium and 5 additional meeting rooms |
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Bike lanes |
In addition to the vast number of bike trails in Memphis, make sure to walk / bike / run Big River Crossing spanning the Mississippi River bridging Downtown Memphis and West Memphis, Arkansas and the Shelby Farms Greenline, a 10.65 mile paved, urban trail that connects pedestrians and cyclists in Midtown Memphis through Shelby Farms Park to Cordova.. |
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Mississippi River |
Go kayaking on the Mississippi River or take a leisure tour aboard a paddle-wheel riverboat. |
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Recreation |
Shelby Farms Park offers horseback riding, 20 lakes for fishing and paddle-boating, a disc-golf course, picnic pavilions, playgrounds, bike trails and more. Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park is more than 13,000 acres of hardwood forest and with plenty to do: fishing lakes, disc-golf course, biking and hiking trails plus park cabins. Paddle down the Ghost River near historic La Grange, Tennessee. This 8.5 mile well-marked canoe trail offers intimate views of abundant wildlife, lakes and untouched portions of the Wolf River. If golf is your interest, be sure to play Mirimichi, established by Justin Timberlake, or TPC Southwind that hosts the WGC St. Jude-FedEx Invitational PGA tournament. |
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Gardens |
Memphis Botanic Garden and Dixon Gallery and Gardens will give you the solitude and beauty you expect. In addition, you can view works of art or let the children run free in Memphis Botanic Garden's My Big Backyard play area. |
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Festivals/ Annual Events |
Click here for a list all the major annual events |
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Number of attractions |
60+ |
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Music-themed attractions |
Memphis, Home of the blues and Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll has many must-see music-themed attractions including Beale Street Historic District, The Blues Foundation's Blues Music Hall of Fame, Graceland, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Sun Studio and the W.C. Handy home and Museum. |
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Restaurants |
With approximately 100 barbecue restaurants alone, Memphis is also home to world-famous fine dining, rich soul food and eclectic dining. |
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Theaters and small theaters |
Memphis offers multiple choices when it comes to live entertainment, dance classical concerts and performance art. Of special note is the Orpheum Theatre, Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse, Theatre Memphis, Hattiloo Theatre, multiple venues at Crosstown Concourse and FedExForum. |
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Art museums |
Memphis is rich with arts, sculpture and painting exhibits offering pieces form Rodin to Renoir. Be sure to visit Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis Botanic Garden, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Metal Museum, Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art, CrosstownArts and the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange. |
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Public transportation |
Each year MATA services over 12M passengers trips on a fleet of 222 transit vehicles including passenger buses and trolley buses |
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Licensed taxis |
Checker Cab, Yellow Cab and Premiere Transportation |
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Ride Share |
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600 bikes and 60 stations connect Downtown, Midtown, South Memphis and Orange Mound for visitors and residents to explore the city |
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Scooters |
Bird / Lime / Spin. Download the app and use the dockless electric scooter to get around downtown and midtown |
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Air terminal |
Memphis International Airport, “America’s Aerotropolis” is a world-class facility serving more than 8 million passengers a year |
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Rail service |
Central Station with Amtrak service since 1971 |
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Bridges |
Frisco: 1892; Harahan: 1916; Memphis & Arkansas: 1949; Hernando De Soto: 1973 |
