Hurricane Matthew evacuees boost Asheville tourism industry
Other states' evacuations have been Asheville's economic boon this week.
With Hurricane Matthew menacing the coastline from Florida to South Carolina all week, thousands of coastal residents were forced to leave their homes or cancel beach vacations. Many of them came to Asheville — if they could find a hotel — to wait out the storm, enjoy the area's attractions and boost the local economy.
"We came up Wednesday night," said Shane Harpham, a pediatric dentist from Bluffton, South Carolina, near Hilton Head. "It was not easy finding a hotel, but we were able to book one at the Country Inn & Suites. We got the last room they had."
On Friday morning, Harpham was grabbing a coffee at World Coffee on Battery Park Avenue downtown. Harpham, his wife and their two young children, both under age 2, took the mandatory evacuation order seriously, and though their car has been "jacked up with stuff all week" for the impromptu trip, they're enjoying their stay in the mountains.
"There are a lot of hot spots in Asheville that we love — the Orange Peel, this place — so we like to come here," Harpham said. "Plus, it's pretty this time of year."
Early October is already a popular time for travelers to visit Asheville, so adding hundreds or even thousands of evacuees to the mix has put a crunch on hotel rooms. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said earlier in the week that hotels were pretty much booked in South Carolina, suggesting folks try Asheville or Charlotte.
But Asheville has very little room left at the inn, although travelers might get lucky if hotels have cancellations or a couple of rooms left.
"We indeed are full for the weekend," said David McCartney, general manager of the 115-room Aloft Hotel downtown. "October weekends generally fill up nicely in advance for hotels here. We probably had less than six rooms available, once the evacuations started, so we really didn't have much room for evacuees."
Marla Tambellini, vice president of marketing at the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau, said hotels were nearing capacity, if they're not already fully booked for the weekend. She said the CVB's information specialist "easily fielded more than 300 calls and requests due to the storm over the last few days," Tambellini said.
"The calls today have tapered off as you would expect," she said Friday morning.
Pittsburgh residents Marla and Greg Vroegindewey got ahead of the game earlier this week. They had booked a golf trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, but when the storm started intensifying, they hedged their bets.
"We were driving to Hilton Head Tuesday, and it started looking really bad down there, so we thought, 'We should plan on something else,'" Marla Vroegindewey said, as she strolled through downtown Asheville. "So we went ahead and booked a room at the Courtyard Marriott here in town."
They actually drove to Hilton Head, stayed for 12 hours and then got out, leaving at 4 a.m. to avoid traffic. They spent a night in Orangeburg, South Carolina, then came to Asheville.
"It interrupted our plans, but this is OK," she said, adding that she was really impressed with the Grove Park Inn's outdoor patio Thursday evening. They planned on eating out, doing a little shopping and seeing the sights.
The influx of unexpected guests clearly has boosted local restaurants and other businesses, as well as foot traffic on downtown sidewalks.
"It's been really busy, just the last few days," said Haley Cohen, an assistant manager at World Coffee. "I was downtown last night and I had to leave because it was so crowded. I expect it to be like that on the weekend, but it felt like a Saturday night in the summer. It was hard to park, so I just left."
Charleston residents Kathy and James Law were among those adding to the throngs. They were making the most of their unplanned vagabond status Friday, ambling around the Grove Park Inn.
"We just like Asheville, so here we are," Kathy Law said, adding that they found a room at the Biltmore Estate. "We were really fortunate to get the accommodations we got."
Marissa Jamison, public relations manager at the Biltmore Estate, said the Village Hotel on Biltmore Estate was sold out Wednesday, Thursday, and will be sold out Saturday, and they anticipated selling out Friday night.
"We did have same-day bookings come in Wednesday and Thursday," Jamison said. "On Wednesday, there were 39 same-day bookings, when on an average day we typically see four same-day bookings or at the most, 12."
The Inn on Biltmore Estate was already sold out for this weekend, but on Thursday it picked up 12 same-day bookings, which is abnormal. A lot of same-day guests who have come are saying they've been on the road all day and want to hit their rooms to rest up before seeing the sights on the estate.
The Laws plan on going back home Sunday, and like other coastal residents they're hoping their home will be undamaged.
In the meantime, they're making the most of it.
"While we're here we'll be eating out, doing a little shopping," Kathy Law said. "For me, it was my excuse to go to Asheville."
As they strolled downtown behind a gaggle of tourists, Bryan Owen and Jenny Clements put a different spin on the whole "evacuees boosting the local economy" story. They live here and had planned on a trip to the coast.
"We were going to go to Oak Island (North Carolina) for a fishing tournament this weekend," Owen said, adding that the weather put the kibosh on that plan. "So now we're taking our vacation here."
They planned on eating downtown Friday, either at Early Girl or Tupelo Honey, places they say are often too crowded to get into, and then over the weekend they lined up a trip to Dollywood, in Tennessee, for their 2-year-old daughter, Ava.
"We've also got some friends coming up from Charleston," Owen said. "They had to evacuate."