The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:50 PM
Partner Of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Donated $2.3M To Park In 2017
The Great Smoky Mountains Association operates the park's visitor center bookstores and said it contributed more than $2.3 million in 2017 to the national park.
Association CEO Laurel Rematore said in a news release that more than 11 million people visited the park for the second consecutive year.
The organization sold more than $173,000 in educational eclipse merchandise leading up to August's total solar eclipse, with about a quarter of that being done in the last few days before the event. Rematore says the group broke nine daily sales records at various stores during that period.
The non-profit's membership program's new recruitment numbers exceeded 11,000.
