Displaying items by tag: ecotourism

Fontana Resort, once the site of a Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps camp and now home to a comfortable, low-key lodging destination, has numerous relics and mementos from nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Included among them is this collection of badges indicating landmarks and completion of popular trails throughout the park. Visitors to areas close to the Smokies, such as Fontana Village, bring in an estimated $3 billion each year.  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

Cash-rich tourists flock to Smokies area; whether they set foot in the national park is a different story

Katie Liming is a public information officer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

GATLINBURG — A new National Park Service report shows that 13.3 million visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2023 spent $2.2 billion in communities near the park. That spending supported 33,748 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $3.4 billion. (In 2020, albeit a year of peak COVID-19, that amount was $2 billion).

“People come to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to enjoy the scenic beauty and end up supporting local economies along the way,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “We’re proud to care for a national park that provides incredible opportunities for recreation but also creates jobs and positively contributes to local economies.” 

The sandstone cliffs of the Obed Wild and Scenic River area provide sport-climbing opportunities rare for the Southeast. Visiting climbers inject an estimated $770,000 per year into the area economy.  Mark Large via National Park Service

Obed rock climbers spend $770k annually on area visits; gas and short-term rentals top spending categories

WARTBURG — Rock climbers visiting the Obed Wild and Scenic River, a unit of the National Park Service located between Knoxville and Crossville in the Upper Cumberland Plateau, annually spend about $768,000 at local businesses, according to a new study.

A recent analysis released by the Access Fund, the Southeastern Climbers Coalition and the East Tennessee Climbers Coalition evaluated tourism and spending in several prominent climbing locations in Tennessee, including the Obed.

The study reported 12,000 total estimated annual climbing visits to the Obed and the majority (62 percent) of those climbers stayed overnight while visiting the Obed. The economic impact of the spending sectors included short-term housing rentals (43 percent), gasoline (21 percent), dine-in restaurants (19 percent), fast food, groceries and snacks (10 percent), camping (4 percent) and hotels (3 percent). 

Demographics analysis of the overall study found that two thirds of the respondents self-identified as male, 85 percent identified as white, 88 percent had at least a four-year college degree and 66 percent had an average annual income of more than $50,000.

The Obed Wild and Scenic River protects 45 miles of river and steep gorges which contain rock formations that are excellent for climbing. The area contains more than 400 climbing routes and is also a destination for bouldering, climbing on large, exposed boulders.

Kids snorkeling on the Little Tennessee River.  Courtesy Jason Meador

The Blue Ridge Snorkel Trail gets you down with Southern Appalachian fish

ASHEVILLE — Snorkeling and looking at freshwater fish are great ways to enjoy Southern streams, and visitors to Western North Carolina will soon have better access to it courtesy of North Carolina Snorkel Trail. Stream access points in numerous locations will boast signs about snorkeling, safety and fish identification.

The concept began with North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Mountain Habitat Conservation Coordinator Andrea Leslie, and Luke Etchison of the Western Region Inland Fisheries Division, which surveys aquatic animals by snorkeling. This allows them to look at populations of fish, crayfish and mussels. 

Leslie told Hellbender Press she wants to encourage snorkeling tourism because people love streams, waterfalls and swimming. The sights below the waterline may be less familiar to the general public. 

Southern mountain streams have fish as vibrant and exciting as the Caribbean Sea.