Pop quiz: Which of these three did visitors spend the most on in 2023: food + drink, retail shopping, or lodging?

The answer might surprise you — as might learning that, in 2023, visitors generated $3 billion for Buncombe County and supported one in every seven jobs.

As visitors continue to grow local livelihoods, Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority have been hard at work to balance the quality of life for residents with the improvement of visitor experiences through $96 million invested in 51 community capital projects.

A testament to that work: their new framework for sustainable growth.

Released just in time for World Tourism Day (psst: that’s today), the framework outlines:

The organizations’ strategic imperatives, born out of 100+ community listening sessions.
A breakdown of visitor spending (and how it benefits the region).
The framework + success-benchmarks for working toward destination stewardship, with an emphasis on community investments, visitor dispersal, responsible travel, and fostering creativity and diversity.

Ready to peek into the future?

See the framework