Asheville’s overall hotel and vacation rental occupancy ticked up slightly in June compared with June 2023.
Vic Isley, president and CEO of Explore Asheville, provided the information to eight members of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (BCTDA) at its July 31 meeting at the Explore Asheville board room at 27 College Place. Board member Elizabeth Putnam was absent, as well as BCTDA’s two ex-officio (nonvoting) members, Sandra Kilgore and Terri Wells.
While hotel occupancy rates were down slightly from June 2023 to June 2024, 76% to 74%, the overall number of rooms occupied was up because of new hotels that opened in the past year, BCTDA spokesperson Ashley Greenstein told Xpress. Vacation rental occupancy was 63%, up 3 points from 60% in June 2023.
In June, 213,098 rooms were rented, compared with 209,498 in 2023. In the same period, 185,550 vacation rentals were rented, compared with 171,231 a year earlier.
Isley next spotlighted upcoming events supported by Explore Asheville and the BCTDA, including the 16th annual Asheville Comedy Festival featuring over 30 comedians at four showcases at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts from Wednesday, Aug. 7-Saturday, Aug. 10; and the McCormick Field centennial restoration and capital improvements groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 28. It’s also the second annual appreciation day for local travel and hospitality industry employees, which includes discount tickets to the Asheville Tourists vs. Hickory Crawdads baseball game at the field.
Looking for games
In a presentation titled “Focusing on Sports,” Michael Kryzanek, BCTDA vice president of business development, noted the board’s efforts to bring sports events and groups to the area, nudging aside the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission.
Last month, the BCTDA told the independent sports commission that it was cutting its remaining $60,000 in annual funding. It had slashed its annual funding from $230,000 to $60,000 in June 2023.
However, Kryzanek said that the BCTDA will work with the commission “when the opportunity presents itself.”
“Here’s an example of a partnership with Harrah’s Cherokee Center and the Sports Commission,” Kryzanek said. “Collaboratively, we worked together to bring in the Southern Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship.”
The championship takes place Thursday, Nov. 21-Sunday, Nov. 24 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center. The partners landed the event for Asheville for the next three years with Ingles as the title sponsor. The 2024 volleyball championship marks the first time the tournament will be hosted exclusively at a neutral location for all teams.
“Coming to Asheville for your conference championship without going to a competitor’s facility, that’s something special [for an athlete],” Kryzanek said.
Kryzanek said that BCTDA’s recent Tourism Product Development Fund (TPDF) investment in multisport courts for the ExploreAsheville.com arena, in partnership with the city, enabled the community to expand into women’s volleyball.
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