LITTLE SWITZERLAND, N.C. — The Blue Ridge Parkway attracts millions of visitors each year, and billions of dollars in revenue for the local businesses and economy. 

What You Need To Know

The Blue Ridge Parkway welcomed 15.9 million recreation visitors in 2021

Visitors brought $1.3 billion to local economies in Virginia and North Carolina

The Switzerland Inn opened in 1910, 16 years before the Parkway officially opened

Jordan Gowan grew up helping her family run the Switzerland Inn, located in Little Switzerland right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Gowan’s grandfather bought the inn in 1983, and now she and her husband, Nathan, are running it. 

“We grew up running around here all the time, and now we have three kids who you’ll see running through the lobby or hanging by the pool,” Jordan Gowan said. 

The Gowans noticed a huge increase in business in the summer of 2020, as more people living in urban areas sought more secluded vacation spots in the first year of the pandemic. Aside from returning customers, they also noticed more new visitors. The Gowans expect to see more growth in years to come.

“We get bikers. We get car enthusiasts. We also get the family with two young kids from Charlotte,” Nathan Gowan said.

The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches 469 miles from Virginia to North Carolina. The parkway welcomed nearly 16 million visitors and garnered $1.3 billion in revenue in 2021, according to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. 

“I always want people to have a good experience, because really it falls on us. It’s our family. It’s our livelihood,” Jordan Gowan said. 

The Gowans are prepared to welcome more Blue Ridge Parkway visitors as their peak season approaches this fall.