Despite a consultant’s recommendations to merge the Buncombe County Tourism and Development Authority and the Asheville Buncombe Regional Sports Commission, BCTDA President and CEO of Explore Asheville Vic Isley said at the Sept. 27 BCTDA board meeting she intends to vote to keep the Sports Commission independent.
With the city-owned auditorium closed to ticketed shows for the foreseeable future after its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system failed in July, leaders in the city and local arts community are hoping this is finally the moment the Wolfe will get a makeover
Representatives from LaZoom and Gray Line discuss their experiences with summer’s tourism decline.
Historically, July is the second busiest month for tourism in Buncombe County, superseded only by October. Yet, this year’s downward trend in overall lodging revenue and occupancy continued into the summer’s busy season.
It took two tries for the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to approve spending nearly $23 million over 20 years for Asheville’s McCormick Field Centennial Restoration & Capital Improvements Project at its July 26 meeting. The motion to fund the project failed 6-2 on the first vote and passed 7-1 after the board voted again 25 minutes later.
Asheville Regional Airport’s growth has outpaced all projections, already almost doubling numbers outlined in the airport’s 20-year master plan, drafted in 2013, for 2025 enplanements. However, more travelers are creating parking headaches at the state’s third-busiest airport.
Xpress worked with Asheville-based data journalist Elliot Patterson to explore homestay permit data. The resulting analysis gives insights into how the market has changed over time, where homestays are located and who’s operating them.
“The staff of Explore Asheville get paid way beyond what the city and county are paying. It sends a message, and it’s not a message that’s good,” said board member Andrew Celwyn, who voted against the budget.
Representatives presented a petition signed by 2,000 workers and supporters asking the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to consider using the Legacy Investment From Tourism fund to increase subsidized housing for tourism industry workers.
Consider one of these trips led by local guides for your next adventure in WNC (and eastern Tennessee).
A study commissioned for the TDA by the Huddle Up Group, a Phoenix-based sports consulting firm, recommends consolidating the sports commission into the tourism body. The TDA already funds the bulk of the commission’s work, at roughly $230,000 per year. (The city of Asheville and Buncombe County each pitch in about $45,000 annually, while UNC Asheville offers its facilities as in-kind contributions.)
The latest Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests Land Management Plan was implemented last month and outlines land use for the next 20 years.
The TDA is on track to pull in $37.6 million next fiscal year, slightly more than this year’s projected $37 million.
Attendees at baseball games may pick up part of the tab for the McCormick Field improvements through a new 50-cent “facility fee” to be added to each ticket.
Financing begins to come together to shore up McCormick Field in order to meet MLB standards.
Violent and disturbing incidents downtown are leaving workers frustrated and frightened. One business owner at an Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce listening session asked the assembled crowd, “How many people have to get assaulted?”
North Carolina can support as many as nine Las Vegas-style casinos with gambling throughout the state, including one in the Asheville area, according to a report commissioned by the General Assembly.
Asheville’s McCormick Field has been home to a minor league baseball team every season since 1959, but the city has come close to losing baseball several times in that span. As the Tourists seek $30 million in improvements to the antiquated ballpark, the future of the national pastime in Asheville once again is in doubt.
Community members weigh in on the impact of visitors and “progress” throughout 2022.
The event, hosted by Explore Asheville, featured presentations on the tensions between the cost and benefits of Asheville’s increased visitations.
On top of the $1.3 million Asheville paid to sponsor the U.S. Open tennis tournament, the public tourism board spent more than $70,000 in expenses that included catering and travel for their staff, board members and guests, nearly $25,000 on Asheville-branded beer coozies, and more than $1,000 on floral arrangements.
