Nashville getting no love from our northern neighbors.
Music City continues to be one of the premiere tourist destinations in the United States. 16.9 million people visited Nashville in 2024, and that annual visitor number crept up to 17 million tourists in 2025. That’s not a substantial increase, but it’s an increase nonetheless. People evidently can’t get enough of the pedal taverns, artist-owned bars, hot chicken, and $15 beers.
Though millions flock to “Music City” to immerse themselves in the country music and “culture” of Nashville, those that used to visit a decade ago barely recognize what the city has become. It’s safe to say that much of the Broadway strip and surrounding Downtown Nashville area have gone corporate, and the charm that used to draw in the masses has been replaced with charmless establishments (that often have a country music star’s name slapped on the outside).
Why is that happening? Well, a lot of it has to do with “Old Nashville” establishments being priced out. Rent for properties continues to rise in the area, and thanks to new property appraisals that have raised property taxes tremendously in Nashville, there’s a concern that a lot of the bars and restaurants located on Broadway and elsewhere in Downtown Music City could soon shutter.
That’s a real concern for locals… but doesn’t seem to be bothering Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell all that much.
At the end of the day, millions of visitors are still traveling to Middle Tennessee to see Broadway and take in all of the country music culture that it has to offer… regardless of what buildings are or are not open. Could that change over the next decade or so? Sure, it could, but the numbers don’t seem to be affected in the modern day.
In fact, according to WTVF 5, a recent Metro Nashville Tourism and Convention Commission meeting spoke about the slight uptick in visitors from 2024 to 2025. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp (NCVC) noted that the annual visitor numbers had gone from 16.9 million in 2024 to 17 million in 2025… but there was just one issue.
And it had to do with Canadian visitation statistics:
So much for Canadians being the polite type, eh?
Over the past couple of years, the friendly relationship between the United States and Canada has slowly but surely shifted into a heated rivalry. Whether it be the tariffs, Team USA beating Canada in hockey, or the whole “51st state” thing that President Trump was floating there for a little while… there’s been a lot of love lost between the two countries.
And that love lost has apparently also translated into Canadians not having much interest in visiting Nashville. Could that just be summed up by Canada residents not wanting to visit the U.S. in general? Or could it have something to do with a lot of country music leaning into the pro-America messaging? I’d say it’s a mixture of both… but it doesn’t sound like the NCVC is too worried about it.
