Jackson Co. Chamber To Host Short-Term Rental Workshop With State

Jackson County Chamber of Commerce will host a workshop to educate the local community about short-term vacation rentals.

Director Hope Vargas said the workshop is made possible with the help of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association. She said the organizations wanted to continue to offer them throughout the state, particularly in more rural communities that are just seeing accommodation growth.

“Being able to grow our accommodation has been huge for these small rural areas who might not be able to land a large corporation or industry,” Vargas said. “But those tourism tax dollars are really driving our economy right now so they just wanted to be able to help out.”

Vargas said they plan to go over the ins and outs of running a short-term rental, including laws and regulations, and customer service. She said it is suitable for both current renters and those who are hoping to start.

“Now that we are really trying to grow our area and we have so much to offer and just now getting tapped into,” Vargas said. “This is going to be a huge asset. We need more accommodations. We need more tax dollars from occupancy tax coming into our area. That way, if there are places for people to stay they stay in Jackson County and they don’t have to travel as far. ”

Vargas said the event is free but tickets are required. She said those tickets go live at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 23rd.