“You have to put gas in the tank to be able to go somewhere,” Vic Isley, president of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (TDA), said of the decision to invite tourists back into the Asheville area about a month after Hurricane Helene devastated the region.
With tourism income declining significantly, Isley said the TDA needs to invite tourists back now to avoid a “vicious cycle” of economic deficit.
On Wednesday, the TDA held its first meeting since flooding, extreme wind and landslides from Helene ravaged hundreds of roads, power lines, trees, internet service and nearly all of Asheville’s water infrastructure.
READ MORE: A month after Helene devastates region, TDA begins…
