Unusual Venues
One of the best places for an offsite event in the Smokies is, naturally, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Spread over more than 500,000 acres, the park carries no admission fee and includes a wide variety of opportunities for outdoor meetings, picnicking and team building. Options include fly fishing, guided wildlife walks, four wheeling and hikes up to Clingmans Dome, the park’s legendary 6,643-foot-high peak offering 360-degree views from the highest spot in Tennessee.
Downtown Gatlinburg features many attractions, but one of the best for offsites is Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. The space can accommodate up to 600 guests in its galleries for an evening event with special guest penguins mingling with the crowd. Behind-the-scenes tours of the staff-only sections of the aquarium are also available during private events. Up the hill, accessible via a 10-minute, 120-passenger tram, Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area and Amusement Park is ideal for a day that mixes meetings and teambuilding. Featuring 10 slopes for skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing in the winter and a wildlife encounter, water park and mountain coaster in the summer, Ober Gatlinburg is ideal for small groups, as it can accommodate a maximum of 250.
In Pigeon Forge, the Titanic Museum features a $1 million replica of the Titanic’s grand staircase and a large collection of Titanic artifacts and experiences, including the opportunity to touch an iceberg. It can accommodate up to 350 in its galleries for an evening event with entertainment, providing a trip back in time and across the ocean quite unlike any other venue in the Smokies. Nearby, the Ole Smoky Moonshine distillery’s 6,000-square-foot Pigeon Forge location is one of the central tenants of The Island entertainment district, which also includes a 200-foot-tall observation wheel and dancing fountains. Planners can organize an evening out in the district with food trucks, tastings and tours at the distillery and rides and music.
The Smoky Mountains
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Access: I-40 to US 441 and/or US 321; Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport (50 miles away); Asheville Regional Airport (90 miles away).
Major Meeting Spaces: LeConte Center, Gatlinburg Convention Center, Sevierville Convention Center
Hotel Rooms: More than 60,000 lodging units throughout the region
Offsite Venues: Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Ober Gatlinburg, Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, Titanic Pigeon Forge, Ole Smoky Moonshine
Contact Info:
Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau
www.gatlinburg.com
Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism
www.mypigeonforge.com
Sevierville Convention and Visitors Bureau
www.visitsevierville.com
