Economic concerns rise as tourists avoid N.C. mountains
Visitor numbers drop significantly, despite open roads and restored power in undamaged regions.
The following article appeared in the October 18, 2024, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
As hard-hit areas continue to recover, towns west of Asheville worry about economic fallout as visitors stay away during prime leaf season; ‘Please come’
The Smoky Mountain Visitor Center put up a billboard in Georgia to let potential visitors know that they are welcome in areas of the N.C. mountains largely undamaged by the storm. (Photo courtesy of Smoky Mountain Visitor Center)
by Tony Mecia
Some areas of the N.C. mountains were upended by a natural disaster.
But in parts of the mountains that largely escaped the storm’s devastation, residents fear that an economic disaster is looming.
Many small North Carolina counties west of Asheville depend heavily on tourism, and the bright hues of changing leaves typically make October their busiest month.
Since the storm hit three weeks ago, though, visitors are mostly staying away — even though roads are open, power has been restored and there’s hardly any damage. The usual pumpkin festivals, hiking trails, downtown shops and roadside fruit stands are ready for tourists, but the numbers are way down because potential visitors assume there is widespread damage.
“People have in their heads that Western North Carolina is one generic area. They learn a lot by visiting that each little town is different,” says Kate Dunn, the owner of McTernan Manor, a six-room hotel in a house built by an Episcopalian missionary in 1888 outside the town of Franklin. The town, population 4,400, is an hour west of Asheville.