Tag: tourism
Showing 64-84 of 156 results
By the numbers: COVID-19 cases in WNC, tourist markets
Masks are required, bars are closed and isolation fatigue is setting in. As Buncombe enters this new phase, Xpress took a look at the COVID-19 stats — both in Western North Carolina and in some likely points of origin for short-term visitors.
Letter: TDA’s shortcomings add to tourism feedback loop
“Compared to its peers, the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority doesn’t do a particularly good job.”
Letter: Fix city’s economy or say goodbye to Asheville’s ‘character’
“It’s hard to adapt to catastrophe when your city’s income inequality is so bad it resembles a Charles Dickens novel, and narcissistic politicians perpetuate it in order to further their careers.”
Letter: In defense of tourism-based businesses
“When it is safe, I hope the tourists come back in droves to help put our friends and families back to work.”
Letter: Build foundation for a less tourist-dependent Asheville
“Tourism must shrink as a proportion of our local economy. We have to start building the foundation on which a new, less tourist-dependent Asheville can thrive.”
Letter: Shame on Asheville for its systemic racism
“Segregation and economic apartheid have been standard operating procedure for all my life in Asheville, and that has not changed.”
Letter: Asheville, racist and unequal as it ever was
“In the area of diversity in hiring, Asheville is just as segregated, racist and unequal as it ever was, and while whites promote Asheville as a tourist and artistic mecca, African Americans are still cleaning rooms in expensive hotels instead of front desk or management positions and not being hired in banks, restaurants and trendy bars in downtown, Biltmore and West Asheville.”
Letter: TDA needs to listen to concerns
“This kind of denial of how tourism has negatively impacted people who live here will only infuriate them more.”
Letter: Tourism imposes tax on the rest of us
“In order to house, clothe and feed your family with an income that insulting, you need support from subsidized housing, subsidized transport, food banks and other charities.”
Readers shared views on development, politics, the environment and more in 2019
How did Xpress readers process all the local news and changes this year? Here’s a look at the topics that generated the most commentaries, letters to the editor and online comments in Xpress in 2019.
Letter: Hotels, businesses must examine how they treat local workers
“The people of Asheville have had enough of being exploited, and it is time to abolish the Buncombe County TDA.”
A Variety of A Tax
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Letter: Downtown hotels should pay living wage
“As real estate prices climb and cost of living goes up and up, the only solution is to pay workers more.”
We’re full!
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Residents weigh tourism positives, negatives in new survey
A survey released from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority reveals a mixture of attitudes concerning tourism from residents.
Letter: Seize hotel moratorium to make city sustainable
“Wouldn’t it be nice if our city saw its master plan as an integral one with environmental stewardship at the center, human sustainability, human mobility and infrastructure coming after? “
Letter: If artists leave, Asheville loses out
“They are smart to leave for a more affordable area and will continue to be able to sell at galleries around the country, but Asheville has lost out.”
Ad it Up!
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Elitism and scapegoating won’t solve Asheville’s congestion, affordable housing and sprawl
“Housing is in short supply and unaffordable. Rather than take an honest and comprehensive look at the issues, barriers and contributors to the problems, however, we in Asheville have smugly chosen the easy way out.”
Letter: City should do more for its vulnerable citizens
“It does not escape me the amount of money that the city of Asheville funnels into the tourism industry here in Asheville, yet we do not have the money or funding to make the communities where these children live safe or enriching.”