Chattanooga's tourism reinvention has created an STR market unlike anything else in the Southern Appalachian region. This in-depth analysis covers Lookout Mountain's climbing economy, the North Shore and Southside dining corridors, the event calendar from Ironman to Moon River, every metro submarket from Signal Mountain to Lookout Valley, competitive dynamics against Gatlinburg, Asheville, and North Georgia, supply-demand balance, and detailed investment considerations.

Lookout Mountain sits at the center of Chattanooga's $1.2B tourism economy, with Rock City (400K annual visitors) and Ruby Falls (400K+) driving constant demand. Yet 76% of STR hosts are invisible due to weak positioning and amateur photography. Our 2026 market analysis reveals how attraction-proximity positioning, professional drone footage, and event-overflow strategies can drive $35K–$50K annual revenue from a single well-positioned property.