Since the pandemic recovery began, tourism in Tennessee has been soaring. However, the millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief money that greatly expanded the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development‘s budget since 2020 are running dry.

“Our agency’s at a crossroads,” Tennessee Tourism Commissioner Mark Ezell told Gov. Bill Lee in November, reports Axios. “We don’t want to go backwards.”

In fiscal year 2020, the Department of Tourist Development’s budget was $21 million. A surge in federal funding that started during the pandemic more than doubled that total for years. It reached $57 million last year.

The added money went toward expanded marketing, grants to help rural communities improve their tourism, and efforts to attract more international flights. The tourist development budget could fall back to a baseline of $22.6 million in fiscal year 2025-26, which starts in July, unless the state fills the gap.

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