Explore Asheville sees tourism rebound fueled by sports, music, investments

Buncombe County hotel revenue jumped 20 percent in the previous month, a sign Explore Asheville is treating as early proof that the county’s tourism rebound is still gaining speed heading into National Travel and Tourism Week, which runs May 3-9. Vic Isley, president and CEO of Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, called the outlook “bullish and optimistic,” saying the rebound is about more than recovering from Hurricane Helene.

The numbers behind that view are sizable. Explore Asheville said visitors spent $2.5 billion across local businesses in 2024, while resident sentiment toward tourism climbed to 92 percent from 88 percent a year earlier. The organization also said 90 percent of the Asheville area was open and ready about one year after Helene, underscoring how quickly the local travel economy has resumed after the storm.

That recovery is being backed by a packed calendar of sports and group travel. Explore Asheville said it secured 477 events and groups in fiscal 2025, up 15 percent, and booked 115,393 group room nights, a 39 percent increase. Meetings and group travel generated $67.4 million in direct spending in fiscal 2025. WLOS also reported that Buncombe County’s fiscal 2026 lodging demand is up 1 percent, from about 2.7 million room nights to just over 2.8 million, suggesting the rebound is showing up not just in headline events but in steady overnight stays.

The biggest near-term draw is the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Outdoor Track and Field Championships at UNC Asheville, which Explore Asheville expects to generate about $1.3 million in May alone. Later in the year, the PGA Tour’s Biltmore Championship Asheville is set to bring more than 100 players, thousands of spectators, millions of dollars in direct spending and national television coverage as part of the 2026 FedExCup Fall schedule. Those events should lift hotels, restaurants, parking operators and staffing needs around downtown Asheville, UNC Asheville and the Biltmore corridor.

Explore Asheville is also betting on projects meant to spread visitor spending beyond the usual hot spots. Hellbender, the new outdoor music venue near The Orange Peel, is planned as a 6,000-person space along the Swannanoa River, with its first announced concert set for August 1 and featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Mavis Staples, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Hurray for the Riff Raff. In Swannanoa, Beacon Bike Park, backed by a $4.5 million Tourism Product Development Fund investment, is expected to open in the fall and is described as the largest bike pump track in North and South America.

The county’s Legacy Investment from Tourism Fund still has $11 million available, and the first application phase closed May 1. If those bets work, the gains should reach farther than the downtown hotel core, with more business in Swannanoa and along the Swannanoa River. If they do not, the strain will be felt first in traffic, parking and staffing where the visitors already are.