“Shame on the Tourism Development Authority for thinking we residents are so easily duped.”
Tag: Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority
Showing 43-63 of 167 results
Voters may decide on $70M in Buncombe borrowing this year
During an April 19 briefing, the county Board of Commissioners heard a presentation by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land about the feasibility of issuing $70 million in bonds for housing and land conservation, which in this case would require approval through referendums of Buncombe voters.
Tourism survey reveals changing attitudes, long-standing issues
Negative sentiments regarding Asheville-area tourism appear to have ebbed since 2019, according to according to a new survey presented at the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s annual planning session March 25. While 65% of residents in 2019 believed that they couldn’t enjoy the city and its amenities because of visitors, only 45% said that they agreed with that viewpoint in 2022
Year in Review: Residents and local leaders reflect on Asheville’s growth and tourism
With growth comes worsening traffic, rising housing costs and long lines of tourists waiting at locally beloved bars and restaurants. But it’s not all bad, as 2021’s Year In Review participants note in their reflections on Asheville’s development and tourism sector. These residents and local leaders shared their growth gripes and hopes as they look forward to the coming year.
TDA to unveil plan for tourism grant funds by end of year
The Tourism Product Development Fund totaled over $7.8 million as of Sept. 30.
What happens to short-term rentals in the long-term?
The amount of money brought in by these short-term rentals in Buncombe County during the first half of this year was up 131% compared with STR revenue for January through June 2019. Consumer preferences — and choices to be made by government officials locally and in Raleigh — will affect the size of that gravy train and who will benefit from it in the years to come.
Buncombe broadens bulk solar plans
Two interlocal agreements up for consideration by the Board of Commissioners Oct. 5, to be signed with the town of Black Mountain and UNC Asheville, would allow those entities to combine their solar energy proposals with new county solar projects in a bid for installers.
TDA holds in-person annual meeting
More than 180 guests attended the event at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
Council approves COVID relief spending categories
Starting Friday, Sept. 24, local organizations can submit projects in the following categories for grants from the federal funds: affordable housing, care for aging residents, climate change, city infrastructure, domestic violence prevention and assistance, food systems, homelessness services, public engagement, revenue losses, small business recovery and workforce development.
Buncombe to hold Sept. 7 hearing on $750K in federal grants
At its regular meeting that evening, the Board of Commissioners will invite public input on its application for $750,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Tourism recovery grant recipients reflect one year later
Of recipients of grants from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s Tourism Jobs Recovery Fund who responded to a recent survey, 97% were open as of June 30. Nine respondents were closed at the end of June, including five which had closed permanently.
Some Asheville businesses prioritize community over tourists
Following its July 8 conversion into a private, members-only club, only North Carolina residents and their invited guests are permitted to dine at the Smoky Park Supper Club. Other area businesses are also choosing to put locals ahead of outside visitors.
BCTDA to allow remote public comment, prepares for board changes
Unlike Asheville and Buncombe County governments, which ended the practice of live remote comment after their return to in-person meetings, the BCTDA will continue to allow members of the public to call into live meetings to comment — an option that was not offered before the pandemic.
Canton and Maggie Valley consider additional occupancy tax
House Bill 412 would enable the two Haywood County municipalities to levy a 2% occupancy tax on accommodations like hotels, motels and Airbnbs, which would then be managed by new town-specific tourism development authorities.
BCTDA approves $15.3 million for tourism marketing
Nearly all of the members of the public who commented on the issue expressed concern over the amount of money being spent to draw more tourists to the area and asked that the funds allocated for advertising instead be spent on city infrastructure, schools and reparations for Asheville’s Black residents.
Letter: Today’s concerned citizens must stop The Bluffs
“We must protect our future and stop The Bluffs. In fact, the best use of Tourism Development Authority marketing dollars would be to buy the tract and put it into land conservation for future generations.”
Letter: Will marketing make us ‘Myrtle Beach of the Mountains’?
“Isn’t this like telling a family of eight living in a two-room house that you’re persuading a couple of baseball teams to move in with them?”
Edwards flips on Buncombe occupancy tax reform
At a June 10 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners, Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards said he had “come around to the way of thinking of the folks in the county” who want less of the tax to go toward tourism marketing.
BCTDA plans $15M in marketing for 2021-22
The TDA would spend at least $10.6 million on advertising buys, an 8% increase over its last pre-pandemic fiscal year. Just over $3 million would go toward the production of new content, with the remainder of the marketing budget spent on research.
HCA executive cites nursing shortage as biggest concern
2020 was the year of the nurse, proclaimed Greg Lowe, the president of HCA Healthcare’s North Carolina division. But Mission’s eight hospitals are now gearing up for a major nursing shortage, he told members of Asheville’s Council of Independent Business Owners.
Buncombe proposes Juneteenth as new county holiday
County leaders say establishing the holiday, which commemorates the 1865 announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation by Union soldiers to enslaved people in Texas, is supported by the county’s Equity and Inclusion Workgroup and would “represent an authentic and more inclusive history of freedom in America.”