Asheville Tourists honor travel and hospitality workers with $5 night
Asheville Tourists offered $5 tickets to travel and hospitality workers at HomeTrust Park, turning a ballgame into a public thank-you for a 18,377-worker industry.
The Asheville Tourists turned a May night at HomeTrust Park into a public salute to the people who keep Buncombe County’s visitor economy running, offering travel and hospitality workers $5 tickets and special recognition during the game against the Rome, Georgia Emperors.
The promotion, tied to Explore Asheville’s fourth annual Travel and Hospitality Night, was aimed squarely at employees in hotels, restaurants, visitor services and related businesses. Workers could buy discounted tickets online with the code EXPLORE, and first pitch was set for 6 p.m. The pitch from organizers was simple: the people behind Asheville’s tourism brand deserved to be seen in the same places where visitors and residents gather to celebrate the city.
The timing carried added weight. The game fell during National Travel and Tourism Week, which ran May 3-9, and followed the 2026 Heroes of Hospitality luncheon on Monday, May 4, in the Heritage Ballroom at the Omni Grove Park Inn. Explore Asheville said six local workers were honored there for their service to the industry, putting a human face on a sector that is often discussed in economic totals instead of individual jobs.
Those totals are large. Explore Asheville reported that travel and hospitality employed 18,377 people in Buncombe County in 2024 and generated $609 million in payroll. The industry also produced about $116.5 million in state tax revenue and roughly $103 million in local taxes, underscoring how much the county depends on visitor spending to support public services, jobs and downtown activity.
The Tourists have used the event to spotlight that workforce before. Explore Asheville’s 2025 Travel & Hospitality Night was the third annual edition and offered $4 tickets, while the 2024 event also targeted travel and hospitality professionals and their family and friends. This year’s $5 offer, including fees and taxes, broadened the gesture into something more practical for workers and their households, not just symbolic recognition.
HomeTrust Park itself added another layer of meaning. Minor League Baseball says the ballpark opened in 1924, and the Tourists announced in April that it had been renamed HomeTrust Park after a nearly 18-month renovation worth about $40 million. The refreshed stadium gave the partnership a polished stage for a message that reaches beyond baseball: Asheville’s tourism economy relies on visible, skilled workers, and those jobs remain central as the city continues working through post-Hurricane Helene recovery and heading into the busy season.
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