Summer tourism is critical to Helene recovery efforts in western NC: Visit NC

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Executive Director of Visit NC, Wit Tuttell, stopped by the ABC11 Eyewitness News Studio to talk about how tourism is growing in North Carolina.

The biggest thing Tuttell emphasized was how critical it is for people to spend time and money in the mountains of Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene caused so much devastation.

"It's a huge part of the economy, so we're going to do everything we can to promote what's open in Western NC, we see a lot of stories about what happened, what got closed, what got knocked out, but we're really going to focus on what's open this summer," Tuttell said, adding that he recommends calling businesses ahead of your trip to ensure things are open and there aren't any road closures prohibiting access.

Visit NC even created a guide to visiting Western North Carolina to help keep the businesses alive as recovery efforts continue.

He also touched on how Visit NC is hoping for more tourists to come out to rural towns in North Carolina.

"A lot of these small towns, they're not going to get a factory coming in," Tuttell told ABC11. "So, tourism a lot of times is a way to diversify your economy and grow businesses, local businesses."

SEE ALSO | North Carolina raked in nearly $37 billion from tourism in 2024

He said that marketing is really the only way to increase tourism in NC's rural communities.

"Tourism is tremendously competitive; people can go anywhere they want, so you have to get that message out," Tuttell said.

Tuttell also mentioned that the film office is busy with many projects shot in North Carolina coming out soon. He said the more we tune in and support these shows shot in North Carolina, the longer they'll keep shooting here and keep that part of our state's economy alive.

To learn more about the efforts to increase tourism in our state, click here.