Tourism expected to expand

Located at the convergence of Cherokee, Graham, Macon and Swain counties, the Nantahala Gorge has long been a tourist and hospitality destination since the 1970s, when the Nantahala River was finally recognized for its world-class whitewater rafting. However, that dynamic has changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statistics compiled for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics show visitors to Cherokee County spent $93.27 million in 2021. Tourism recovery seems to have balanced out in 2021 and 2022, with anticipated growth projections for the 2023 season. However, in Cherokee County there was a an exceptional growth rate of 31.1 percent in tourism spending from 2020 to 2021.

Although Memorial Day is considered the unofficial kickoff to the tourism season, the past few years have been different. The area’s seclusion has become a draw for those seeking refuge from cramped urban areas for the freedom and safety of the wide-open outdoors.

Glen Choga Lodge

Businesses found out how much of an impact tourism has to the local economy when most states mandated travel restrictions due to COVID. Lockdowns forced people visiting the area to stay longer

before they could return to their own homes, according to Tim Comstock, innkeeper of the historic Glen Choga Lodge in Nantahala.

“Nobody saw this coming as fast as it did,” he said. “We projected it would be a huge loss, but the exact opposite happened. We worked extra hard to make sure everybody felt safe and comfortable.”

There are many second homes near the lodge, and Comstock and his wife, Elizabeth LeDuke, discovered many of those owners couldn’t reach their homes due to COVID restrictions. When those rules were eased, they brought as many family members as possible to the relative safety and seclusion of western North Carolina.

“It was like a floodgate opened, we were just beyond our projected numbers and it wasn’t slowing down at all,” Comstock said. “People were trying to get away from the city, and they wanted to bring their whole family.”

Comstock and LeDuke worked painstakingly at sanitation, following stringent U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention guidelines and providing a sense of comfort and safety for their guests – all while raising their own family at the lodge. They still adhere to this new standard.

Comstock predicted that it will get “more busy every year past COVID, as the seasons are getting longer for tourists to visit our area with people’s ability to work from home because they can leave or visit whenever they feel like it now.” He also expects the 2023 wedding season to improve as the area becomes a bigger destination getaway.

Gorgeous Stays

While the hospitality realm changed to accommodate more stringent cleaning guidelines, there was a small wave rushing to the shore.

Glamping and the tiny home movement spurred Helene Elbein to move to Nantahala and build Gorgeous Stays in 2019 after her family had been traveling to the area for more than 15 years. Hailing from Arkansas and then Winston-Salem, and after the loss of her husband, Helene and her daughter found the property of a former farm in the gorge. They began catering to through hikers on the Appalachian Trail, which opened a new avenue for Elbein’s business right before the trail was shut down for COVID.

“Glamping” and its movement are defined as more refined camping with more luxurious amenities versus traditional tent or rustic camping.

“February hit, and we had the Appalachian Trail hikers here,” she said. “The news came out that we had to shut down, and my heart sank because I thought I’m not even gonna get that first full good year to look at, to compare anything to.”

Elbein scrambled to place hikers on flights home to New Zealand and Canada from both Asheville and Knoxville, Tenn.

“It was a little depressing, and I kept worrying about how long are they gonna have a shutdown,” she said. However, in May 2020, most lodging sites were told that “we’d be allowed to open that Memorial Day weekend since we were an outdoor venue.”

This season, Elbein anticipates more through traffic of both trail hikers and destination group visitors to her “glampground,” compared to the family dynamic that vacationed in 2020.

“In 2021, we actually had a gangbuster summer because we were an outdoor venue,” she said. “Grandparents would book a cabin for themselves, and one for their grandkids and another for their offspring, and they’d all come out and sit in a huge circle in the grass. And they just wanted to get out and see their family in a safe way.”

Elbein said this year and last seem to be geared more toward couples and friends’ groups. Many families today are living in a new normal, catching up on school and work in the post-pandemic era.

Wildwater LTD

While most people know our area for whitewater rafting, Wildwater LTD has offered Jeep tours since 2005, with the demand for their tours warranting expansion, according to Paulie Disporto Jr., director of the tours. Coming to Nantahala in 2021 from New Jersey during the easing of COVID restrictions gives him a unique view on the guidelines still in place from 2020.

“We followed CDC and [North Carolina] guidelines with the strictness of the masks on buses for rafting, on zip-lining and on the Jeep tours,” he said. “You had to wear a mask on the buses, but when rafting or zip-lining you did not.”

Disporto said the Jeep tours offer scenic views and history lessons about both the Nantahala River and gorge community, providing tourists with an overview of the waterfalls, wildflowers and natural beauty in our surroundings. People flocked to these tours to get out of the confines of quarantine and experience some fresh mountain air.

“Obviously, numbers were down, but we did not close at all,” he said. “And because we were not shut down completely, we had a huge rise in 2021 again.”

Disporto said he looks forward to expanding the offerings and routes of the Jeep tours in the community. He steadfastly maintains that positive growth will occur this year due to an uptick in booking tours with repeat customers, as well as the purchase of another Jeep to add more tours for both locals and visitors in the area.

The Tattered Tartan

The restaurant industry took direct economic hits with restrictions and shutdowns, with many places shuttering their doors for either a limited time or permanently. However, one enterprising couple began a business amid the COVID crisis.

Owners Eric and Shannon West of The Tattered Tartan Pub in Andrews hoped for a mid-2021 opening but decided a low-key approach at the end of COVID regulations was best for what they have built into a community gathering spot.

“It was very deliberate and intentional just so we could kind of ease into the business because neither one of us had any experience whatsoever,” Ms. West said. “We went into this headfirst with absolutely no experience, so we deliberately opened during a slow time.”

That slow time proved to be a period of adjustment to adhere to COVID restaurant policies, which they use to this day in terms of strict sanitizing. The pub has become a local hub, and the Wests anticipate expansion with outdoor seating in 2023 as their community base has grown since the influx of second home buyers have now become regulars when visiting the area.

“We still had about an 80 percent local following, with people from Andrews or Murphy or Robbinsville,” West said. “And with the addition of live music and trivia nights, that has brought in more tourists looking for experiences in the area.”

Overall, local business owners are optimistic about the upcoming tourism season. They hope it extends into fall, or even year-round, because of more varied offerings in the area and the recent upswing in visitors.