As companies make changes due to the economic downturn, Dollywood is no different.

The park will have a shorter operating schedule this year as well as make some staffing changes to help with company costs.

Pete Owens, Dollywood’s Public Relations Manager, stated that the executive leadership team is taking a voluntary five percent pay cut, while other full-time salaried employees will not receive a pay raise for 2009.

The company, he said, has “just been trying to do things that we know we have control over, to keep Dollywood on a very positive financial footing moving forward, so as the economy recovers we are poised to be very successful moving forward.”

Attendance for the park was off between seven and eight percent from 2007 to 2008, according to Owens, but 2008 was still the third-best attendance year ever for the park. He also said attendance during the week of Christmas and the week of New Year’s was much higher than Dollywood officials had anticipated. “We’re hoping that that is … a glimpse into the 2009 season and that that will continue,” he said.

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