ASHEVILLE, N.C. – With Helene’s aftermath behind them, Asheville businesses are inviting tourists back, emphasizing their urgent need for economic recovery.
These business owners, to support their community, show what it means to have resilience after nearly losing their way of living. They're sharing their post-storm experiences in recent interviews with Spectrum News 1.
Asheville and Buncombe County are relying on the business community and others to draw tourists and other forms of revenues back.
The area has over 250 independent restaurants, according to the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Molly Irani is the co-founder of Asheville’s Chai Pani, which is a restaurant known for it’s Indian street food. “Pretty much everything is made from scratch, by hand, the old-fashioned way,“ their website promises.
Irani and her husband Chef Meherwan believe seeing images of Helene’s destruction on social media have denied potential tourists and visitors from the seeing and experiencing Asheville’s bounceback.
"The areas where tourists can visit in downtown Asheville in particular, are thriving again and ready for people to come back." “The misperception is that people shouldn’t come back because they don’t want to be in the way or cause a problem in the recovery," Irani said. "The areas where tourists can visit in downtown Asheville in particular, are thriving again and ready for people to come back."
Of the small businesses in the Asheville metro area, 96% of establishments have 50 or fewer employees, according to Asheville’s Chamber of Commerce.
Asheville Tea Company CEO Jessie Dean and her staff were forced to go from a space of 4,000-square-feet to a temporary space of 800-square-feet working out of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. And Dean already has ideas for the business’s next location.
“Gosh, I think we’ll probably steer clear of the river area when we rebuild,” Dean said. “But we definitely plan to rebuild in Asheville and support our community.”
Her company also supports local and regional farmers. Since the storm, hundreds of emails and letters of support have poured in, filling her inbox and mailbox with messages of comfort and encouragement.
“I do remember one customer saying it wouldn’t be the same without Asheville Tea Company, and really, that is so buoying for us because that is meaningful and is the reason why we’re re-building,” Dean said.
A few miles away from Asheville Tea Company at Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins, co-owner Shelton Steele said the river rose over 24 feet high. His cabins were built to withstand flooding and were elevated 12 to 16 feet off the ground like a beach house, so the property was more protected than others.
The unemployment rate in the county at one point was more than 10% after the storm, but has since dropped, according to Buncombe County.
“October for our business was zero, and as you would imagine, no business does well at zero dollars,” Steele said. “We’re slowing building back month over month and we’re looking forward to spring and summer.”
An exhibit in the the county, Asheville Strong: “Celebrating Art and Community After Hurricane Helene”, is on display at the Asheville Art Museum until May 5, 2025.
It features the work of over 150 artists from the storm that ravaged western North Carolina and southern Appalachia.
The artists represent a collective act of resilience after Helene.
Artist Sarah Jones Decker submitted a haunting yet resolute 19th century era tintype photo art from her series titled “Marshall After the Flood.”
“The art gallery that I’ve had my stuff in for 12 years flooded and then the building collapsed, so all of that work is gone,” Decker said. “A lot of beauty has come from the devastation and a lot of relationships have been built.”
Two Asheville area hospitality business owners also carry hope that public perception catches up with reality. Months later, folks in the hospitality industry are back in business and ready to welcome tourists for weekends or longer.
Glenda Cahill and her husband own the Wildberry Lodge, a bed and breakfast with seven rooms and suites offering what they describe as beautiful views of the mountain landscape.
But after Helene’s impacts, she said their business has not been so beautiful.
“People still call me and ask if they can still get here. They think the roads are still closed. They think there are no restaurants open. So, getting the word out about things that are open is really important,” Cahill said.
About 12 miles east, Katy Dalton shares Cahill’s sentiments.
“My locals have been what’s kept us afloat. But the tourism went away. And that’s the thing, we need to have people come back into town and spend their money because all of our small businesses are really hurt from it,” Dalton said.
She’s the owner of one of those small businesses, Fusion Day Spa in west Asheville.
In 2023, visitors spent nearly $3 billion in tourism, according to Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. That accounts for nearly 20% of Asheville’s total annual economy, or GDP, and about 29,000 jobs.
Visit N.C., the state’s tourism office, said in 2023, Buncombe County ranked No. 3 in tourism. Wake County was No. 2 and Mecklenburg County was No. 1. Visit N.C. offers an interactive map breaking down which North Carolina towns have recovered and is currently welcoming visitors.
President and CEO of Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, Vic Isley highlights a color-coded travel advisory map on the website of VisitNC.com for anyone looking to visit the area. While many in the district are still recovering, more than 20% of business owners there would love to see customers walk though their doors.
“The North Carolina glass center is a center that relies on 80% of their sales from visitors to our community, so you can see why it’s so important. There are people who make their living making these beautiful works that are not only art, but function,“ Isley said.
An Asheville tour business, Hood Huggers International, is about the founder DeWayne Barton’s love for his city and its Black history. He said the city’s Black history is prominent and showcases it with walking and driving tours of the city.
“Part of the tour was the connecting and driving people to those areas where we know businesses and people are trying to do things, to add some more capacity so that they can grow. We need people to come back. We need people to help support the community,” Barton said.
DeWayne has plans to expand Hood Huggers International with a mixed-use affordable housing development.
Asheville’s business owners hope for a successful spring, welcoming tourists and returning to normalcy, showing the public that the city and county is working hard to show tourists they’re open for business.