Asheville is Open: Hotel Industry Leader Rick Bell on Tourism Recovery in Western North Carolina

Send us a text

Asheville Reboot – Episode 2: Asheville is Open for Business – Hotel Industry Leader Rick Bell on the Region’s Comeback

In this episode of Asheville Reboot, Brian Hamrick speaks with Rick Bell, Executive Director of the Asheville Hotel Association, about how the hotel and lodging industry in Asheville and Western North Carolina is bouncing back after Hurricane Helene.

Rick shares:

• The real impact the hurricane had on local hotels and B&Bs
• Why the media’s portrayal exaggerated the damage
• How businesses are recovering—and why now is actually the perfect time to visit Asheville
• What visitors can expect this summer and fall, including deals, fewer crowds, and restored trails, rivers, and attractions

If you're wondering whether Asheville is ready for your next vacation—the answer is yes. We’re open, welcoming, and better than ever.

🎧 Listen now and help spread the word that Asheville is back.

📍 Learn more about Engadine Inn & Cabins at EngadineInnandCabins.com

Follow Engadine:
📸 Instagram: @engadineinnandcabins
📘 Facebook: @engadineinnandcabins
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AshevilleReboot

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to AshevilleReboot, where we talk with the
people behind Western NorthCarolina's comeback, one story
at a time.
I'm Brian Hamrick, co-owner ofEngadine Inn and Cabins, and
today I'm joined by Rick Bell,executive director of the
Asheville Hotel Association.
While our last episode sharedthe story of, of our property,
Engadine Inn and Cabins, today'sconversation looks at the

(00:24):
broader picture.
How the hotel industry inAsheville has been impacted by
Hurricane Helene and whatrecovery looks like from the top
down, Rick.
Thanks for joining us today.
Can you give our listeners aquick overview of the
association and who itrepresents?
Hi, Brian.
Thank you for having me.
The Asheville Hotel Association,is actually just a couple of

(00:46):
years old.
It was born out of a desire ofsome of the major hotel owners
in town to, form a localbusiness group to represent,
hotel interests, andinteractions with elected
officials and with tourismofficials in Asheville and
Buncombe County.
Currently the membership exists,what we have about 40 members

(01:08):
out of the approximately 100hotels, lodging businesses in
Buncombe County.
That would include the bed andbreakfasts.
As I say, we meet regularly to,talk about issues and
opportunities facing the localmarket, the local lodging
market.
Let's talk about the hurricane,because that's had a huge effect
on the businesses that you justmentioned.

(01:30):
What impact did the hurricanehave on the hotels and the Bed
and breakfast in the Ashevilleand Western North Carolina area?
Well, the irony is, as I said,there are approximately a
hundred or so hotels or motels,or b and bs in Buncombe County.
There was actually only onehotel.
That was severely damaged and itwas bad.

(01:52):
It was the Grand Bohemian inBiltmore Village, which is
adjacent to the Swannanoa River.
Most of the other hotels,encountered, some damage.
You know, trees and wind and,leaking roofs and things like
that.
But, not the kind of severedamage that the media, portrayed
at the time.
A lot of the really severedamage was, primarily in areas

(02:14):
where the rivers float.
So that is to say, close to theFrench broad, which flows, past
downtown Asheville and theSwannanoa River, which goes
through Biltmore Village.
In fact, the day after thestorm, if you walked into
downtown Asheville, you wouldn'tknow that anything had happened.
What people have seen, on thenews, is a fairly accurate

(02:35):
presentation of what happenedalong the river, say in the
river arts district, but not tothe majority of the hotels.
Even one of the hotels in theriver arts district had no
damage at all.
It was up high enough that itwasn't affected.
Obviously the storm created alot of new challenges for
Asheville, especially in areasadjacent to the rivers.

(02:57):
That included someinfrastructure problems that
caused Asheville to struggle toget back up on its feet again.
But all of that's been resolved.
Some of the tourism assets thatexist along the rivers,
including the lower part, butnot the upper part of the river
Arts district.
Most of that cleanup hashappened.

(03:18):
The damage to the infrastructurewas repaired fairly quickly.
That included damage to thewater system and to bridges and
roads.
Much of that has been taken careof.
There are some exceptions tothat.
There are some places along theBlue Ridge Parkway that remain
closed.
People can still come toAsheville today and enjoy the

(03:41):
Blue Ridge Parkway.
By the time we get to leafseason, which is typically the
month of August, much of theparkway, will have been
repaired.
There are some sections that itmay take years.
For them to fix.
But those aren't necessarily theclosest sections of the parkway
to Asheville.
In some respects, there may havebeen some good things that will

(04:04):
come out of the storm becausewith repairs to some of this
infrastructure.
Including some of the naturalassets that we have, so
waterfalls and hiking trails andthings like that.
Volunteer groups have gone inand have cleaned these up, and
in some instances they'reactually in more pristine

(04:24):
condition today than they wereprior to the storm.
So there's a lot of good goingon here right now.
You know, we suffered through.
Those first few months and thedamage that it did to our
businesses, but we're happy tosay that slowly but surely we're
building it back.
In a lot of ways, it seems asthough the hurricane, had double

(04:45):
dipped on Western North Carolinaand Asheville.
You had the damage from thehurricane, but then you also had
what I believe to be damage fromthe media and the perception
that it put out there thatAsheville is completely
underwater.
Western North Carolina is stillflooded.
And I think that perceptionstill exists.
Even though it's no longer true.

(05:07):
Can you kind of speak to that?
I mean, if people want to comevisit, there's still plenty to
do and a lot of the things youcould do last year at this time,
you can still do today.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, I would agree.
You know, I mean, the media kindof being what it is, they always
looked for the flash and therewere some very unique stories
coming outta this.
There were slides on I 40, botheast and west of Asheville, and

(05:29):
there were problems with I 26.
I mean, I heard the mediadescribe Asheville as an inland
island at one point, which was,you know, an exaggeration.
But there was a tendency, forthe media to really focus on the
more dramatic things.
In fact, the local TDA, thefolks that are responsible for
promoting tourism in Asheville,and Buncombe County.

(05:50):
Sort of laughingly, but at thesame time, seriously said, you
know, when the weather guys orthe guys from the weather
channels start reporting stopstanding in the puddles because
there were puddles, but for themost part, those puddles only
existed in fairly confinedspaces along the rivers.
You know, if you stood indowntown Asheville, as I said

(06:11):
earlier.
You would never have known therehad been a storm the day before.
You just wouldn't because noneof the damage existed there.
So, the media being what it is,they may have exaggerated just
how bad things so, it'sinteresting that as we look to
the anniversary, Asheville wantsto get ahead of that narrative

(06:32):
and talk about the good thingsthat are happening here what is,
the effect on the hotels and thebed and breakfast in Western
North Carolina?
I mean, what have you seen overthe past year?
Are they, hurting because wedon't have as much tourism, and
how are they, finding ways to,bring tourists back and bring
business back?
Okay.
Well, yes, business hassuffered.

(06:54):
Fortunately, we were able to usethe hotel inventory that we have
to house, displaced familiesand, essential workers that were
coming in.
FEMA took care of a lot of that.
But all of that's gone then.
So now we're watching whathappens with the tourists and
across the board, not just withthe hotels.

(07:15):
But all the local businesses,attractions, shops, galleries,
restaurants, most people haveagreed that there has been about
a 30% decline, year over year intraffic and in business.
So we do have, a gap to make upthere.
The good news for people thatare coming to visit, you know,

(07:35):
Asheville's always been acrowded place on the weekends.
If you're interested in visitingAsheville.
Now's a great time to comebecause you know, with 30% fewer
people, especially during theweek, there's a lot to do
without a lot of crowds andwithout the lines that you
would've experienced in thepast.
So, out of it, there's achallenge, but there's also an

(07:58):
opportunity for folks who have,you know, interest in coming to
visit.
Asheville and Western NorthCarolina is just a premier,
place to bring your family to dooutdoor activities.
And right now it really seemslike you can find some great
deals.
Because that perception is stillout there, that, we're not quite
back up and ready, but we are,and with the anniversary coming

(08:22):
up in September, and we'rerecording this in mid-July, you
know, we're in the summer seasonand we're heading into the fall
season, which is always a verypopular time.
And we know with the anniversarythere's gonna be a lot more
media coverage showing, whathappened last year.
The streets underwater, theflooding and everything.
What's the real message?
What do we wanna say, Rick, tocombat that perception?

(08:44):
I mean, we want people to knowthat we're back open and ready
for business.
Yeah.
Well, I think that's themessage, you know, and I think,
in the past couple of months,we're about nine months out from
the storm now.
I think you've begun to see someof that, some of the morning
shows have visited here to kindof say to the world, you know,
Asheville's here and open anddoing business.

(09:08):
And to kind of show anddemonstrate that, the damage
that was done is being repairedexcept in those specific areas
where it was really bad.
You're really not gonna see orbe able to tell that there was
ever any difference here.
Yeah, absolutely.
So before I wrap it up, Rick, isthere any other thoughts you
want to, make sure we getacross?

(09:30):
Well, I think not other thanjust come and see us, you know,
it's like we keep saying we'reopen for business.
Asheville's got a greatportfolio of tourism assets.
Whether you're a foodie or anoutdoor person or a river water
sport kind of person, hiking inthe winter months skiing,

(09:50):
there's just a lot to do hereand, now is a great time,
especially if you're watchingyour budget to enjoy the tourism
assets that Asheville has inWestern North Carolina rick, I
appreciate you joining me todayand for the work you're doing to
help lead Asheville'shospitality industry through
recovery.
And I think we're already on theother end of that at this point.

(10:13):
We want people to know thatAsheville is open, western North
Carolina is open, and thebusinesses here are working hard
to welcome visitors back.
And if you're planning a trip tothe area, I'd love to personally
invite you to stay with us atEngadine Inn and Cabins.
We're located just 15 minuteswest of downtown Asheville in
Candler with a historicVictorian bed and breakfast, six

(10:36):
Mountain view cabins and thekind of peaceful setting that
can make a trip hereunforgettable.
And you can learn more and bookyour stay at Engadine Inn and
Cabins.com.
And Engadine is spelledE-N-G-A-D-I-N-E, that's Engadine
Inn and Cabins.com.
Thanks for listening toAsheville Reboot.

(10:57):
We'll see you next time