Tripadvisor names Asheville top U.S. travel spot, boosting tourism outlook

Tripadvisor’s latest ranking gave Asheville a fresh boost just as Buncombe County is still rebuilding its tourism economy after Hurricane Helene. The recognition should help fill hotel rooms and restaurant tables, but it also raises the stakes for parking, downtown congestion and the workers who keep the visitor economy moving.

The travel site named Asheville one of its 2026 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Destinations, an honor based on traveler reviews and ratings collected from October 1, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2025. Tripadvisor said fewer than 1% of its 8 million listings earn the Best of the Best distinction, and Asheville’s page now carries more than 347,000 traveler reviews across hotels, attractions and restaurants.

That matters in Buncombe County because tourism remains one of the region’s biggest economic engines. Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority say travel and hospitality generate nearly $3 billion in annual spending, support nearly 30,000 local jobs and account for about 20% of county and city tax revenues. In other words, every new wave of visitors reverberates far beyond Downtown Asheville, from Swannanoa and Black Mountain to Enka and the service jobs tied to the corridor.

Tripadvisor’s own description helps explain why the city keeps showing up on national lists. It portrays Asheville as a city of fewer than 100,000 people in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with 11 farmers markets, award-winning cheesemakers and more than 50 breweries. The company also points to more than a million acres of protected wilderness nearby, a selling point that continues to attract hikers, bikers and other outdoor travelers.

The award arrives as local tourism data show recovery that is real but uneven. In September 2025, Buncombe County hotel occupancy reached 66%, up 3 percentage points from September 2024, but still 13 points below 2019. Vacation-rental occupancy was 49%, down 5 points from the year before. That gap helps explain why city and county leaders have treated each recognition as both a comeback marker and a management challenge.

Explore Asheville has described the city as “writing a new chapter” after Helene, citing reopened studios, cleared trails and rebuilt businesses. The region also approved $12.4 million in 2025 Tourism Product Development Fund investments for eight capital projects, the first full grant cycle since the storm, part of a broader effort to restore the destination’s appeal and spread visitor dollars across the county.

Asheville has already stacked up national attention in 2025, including No. 9 on Travel + Leisure’s Best Cities in the United States list, along with mentions in The New York Times’ 52 Places to Go in 2025 and CNN’s Best Towns to Visit in 2025. For Buncombe County, the latest Tripadvisor honor is more than bragging rights. It is another sign that the comeback is drawing notice, and another reminder that the next phase of recovery will depend on how well the community manages the crowds that come with it.