Capital At Play
  • Home
  • Current Edition
    • Featured Capitalists
    • Local Industry
    • Leisure & Libation
    • Columns
    • Events
  • Archives
    • Featured Capitalists
    • Local Industry
    • Leisure & Libation
    • Columns
    • Resources: Lists, Charts & Maps
    • Capital Adventurist
    • Videos
  • Contact
    • Pick-up Locations
    • About Us
  • Subscribe Now
  • Recommended Businesses
  • Weekly Newsletter
    • Web Exclusive
  • Podcast
Annual Guide to Holiday Dinners at Local Asheville...
Guide to WNC’s Holiday Season
The Economic Impact of Tourism
Power Couples
Back to the Future
Best of WNC’s Outdoors
Small Businesses of Yore
Capital at Play
Balancing Purpose and Profits
All in Good Taste
On A Mission
Better Together
Small But Mighty
Different by Design
A Farewell Column
Artist Spotlight: Becca Allen
Guide to Art Institutions in WNC
The Artist’s Way
Facing the Music
Dancing to His Own Tune
Making Matters
Creating Art for Corporate Communities
The Heart—and Art—of Healing: Large Collection of Local...
Pausing for Public Art
Bucket List: 10 Ways to Celebrate Fall in...
Bucket List: Where to Drink Outside this Fall
A Fine Pair
The Well Played Pivot: Game on for Game...
A Mountain to Climb
The Beer Necessities

Capital At Play

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit Of Enterprise

  • Home
  • Current Edition
    • Featured Capitalists
    • Local Industry
    • Leisure & Libation
    • Columns
    • Events
  • Archives
    • Featured Capitalists
    • Local Industry
    • Leisure & Libation
    • Columns
    • Resources: Lists, Charts & Maps
    • Capital Adventurist
    • Videos
  • Contact
    • Pick-up Locations
    • About Us
  • Subscribe Now
  • Recommended Businesses
  • Weekly Newsletter
    • Web Exclusive
  • Podcast
2020ColumnsCurrent Edition

The Economic Impact of Tourism

December 2020

Written by Chris Cavanaugh


The Industry Buoys Small Business & Brings New Connections

I have a confession to make: I’m a map geek. I’m one of those people who purchases a new Rand McNally road atlas every year—you know, the printed kind. (Yes, Rand McNally still produces them annually.)  I love maps, and the ol’ Rand McNally is one of the reasons I first visited Western North Carolina.

You see, I’d stare at the map of the Old North State and fixate on the western region, wondering what it was like to visit or even live there.  Just looking at that map, it became obvious that the region was so different from other places I’d lived and visited in the South: the massive swaths of area covered in green, signifying National Forest and Park Service lands; the twisting, winding nature of the roads; occasional little triangles showing mountain peaks with their elevations marked next to them; an entire National Park running north and south through the region. Many of the names on the map were captivating and sounded almost mystical, places like Sylva, Highlands, Blowing Rock, Tuckasegee, Maggie Valley, and Little Switzerland. I couldn’t wait to visit.

And eventually I did. Like many past and current residents of Western North Carolina, I first arrived in the region as a tourist. I hiked through forests, drove the Blue Ridge Parkway, ate barbecue, visited Biltmore, stayed in a bed and breakfast, went rafting, and walked the streets of small towns. I was fortunate to become a resident of Asheville a few years later, in 1995.


The full article continues below. Click to open in fullscreen…

The Economic Impact of Tourism was last modified: December 1st, 2020 by LPoll
1
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

You may also like

Defining Sustainability

December 2017

Real Estate 2017: The WNC Year In Review

February 2018

A Musical Artist’s Life of Hope By Andrew Reed

October 2018

The Art Of Unique Museum-ing

January 2019

Ancient Art Modern Artist

March 2021

Current Edition

  • History in the Making

  • Good Sports

  • Quite the Spread

  • Commercial Real Estate Questions

  • In the Mouth of the Wilson

Subscribe



Like what you see? Subscribe to get
Capital at Play delivered to your home.

Pickup Locations


Find a location near you &
pickup a copy of Capital at Play today!

Contact Us

Subscription Information
order online here

Advertising Inquiries
828.274.7305
advertising@capitalatplay.com

Editorial Inquiries
editor@capitalatplay.com

@2020 - Capital at Play LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Back To Top