The Mountaineer

During a year where Haywood County’s tourism revenue was down for seven months straight, including a 21 percent dip in May, a welcome uptick in September was more than offset by an October rock slide that closed Interstate 40 to Tennessee and left the tourism economy reeling.

Area tourism officials are working furiously to mitigate the damage by letting people know they can still visit mountain communities in Western North Carolina.

A top priority, said Lynn Collins, the county’s tourism director, is changing the state highway signs that warn people around traveling west on I-40 to turn around before they even hit Haywood County.

“I just talked to a woman from Charleston who was here for the weekend and she saw people pulling over and turning around to go back to Asheville after seeing the sign,” Collins said of the electronic notification boards telling people about the road closure. “They literally turn you around and send you back.”

She said she is working closely with Mary Jane Ferguson, who heads the Cherokee Tribal Travel and Promotion effort and state officials, who offered to consider different sign verbiage submitted.

“We’re trying our best to get the messaging changed,” Collins said, noting there are three alternative routes provided on the organization’s Web site. All detour routes, including travel via N.C.  209 or N.C. 19 to U.S. 441, are also being handed out at visitor centers.

The rock slide is the latest piece of bad news to hit the tourism industry this year. There have been fewer visitor overnight stays in Haywood than a year ago for seven of the past nine months in 2009.

The most accurate measure of tourist activity locally is through tracking occupancy tax revenues, a 4 percent assessment on all accommodation rentals in the county. Small gains were shown only in January and September 2009 when compared to the same months in 2008. The 2009 figures include an extra 1 percent occupancy tax that kicked in this year, which would naturally raise the collections.

Collins said the biggest economic blow hit a year ago September when a gas shortage struck. From that low point, occupancy tax collections were up by 4 percent  in September 2009. January showed a 2 percent gain, and February collections were down by 10 percent. March and April were off by 9 percent; May was down 21 percent, June by 17 percent; July down 14 percent, and August was off 9 percent.

In addition to the sour economy, 2009 was the first year the Wheels Through Time Museum was not open on a regular basis for tourists, and Ghost Town had a bad year getting its signature roller coaster up and running, something that didn’t happen until the season’s end.

In addition to working with the state on signage issues, Collins said press releases are being issued regarding skiing, shopping and enjoying the mountains during the holidays and the tourism board is looking at rearranging advertising campaigns in light of traveling difficulties on I-40.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is working to make emergency loans available through the Small Business Administration to companies that have lost substantial business due to natural disasters. To qualify, Gov. Bev Perdue has requested an SBA economic injury declaration and has shown at least five businesses have suffered substantial economic injury from the I-40 closure.

To date, more than a dozen Haywood and Buncombe business owners have contacted Shuler’s office saying they have experienced “severe economic damage” that can be directly traced to the rock slide, according to an e-mail from the Congressman’s staff.

Those with questions about the SBA emergency loan program can contact Shuler’s office at 252-1651.

For more information on I-40 detours, visit www.smokeymountains.net.