Tourism industry prepares for season post-Helene
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) – The warmer weather and longer days usually mean the busy season for outdoor recreation, but after Hurricane Helene, tourism in our area will look different.
The most recent economic study found that tourism generated $17 million in Unicoi County in 2023. The county's tourism director, Cathy Huskins, said there's no way to project how much will be lost because it's the first year, but she believes they will be able to manage despite losing the activities on the Nolichucky River.
'From what I have seen so far, I really think it's going to equal itself out because of the phone calls that I've had and the interactions that I've had with people that just really care about this community and they don't want to see us suffer,' Huskins said.
Steven Bentley owns Riverview Campground in Jonesborough. He estimates the river rose 30 feet and swallowed almost all of his 44 camp sites.
'We lost 11 campers,' Bentley said. 'By the time the water came across the second bank, the water was coming up about a foot per minute. I was just hooking the campers and I was just pulling as fast as I could up here to the higher ground, just trying to keep them from getting washed down the river.'
Thanks to the help of the local community, they were able to recover quickly and are 100% back open.
'Well, we were fortunate because of the local churches and the good men and women that were staying here in the park; we couldn't get out,' Bentley said. 'Nobody could go anywhere. So everybody just kind of threw in and helped me clean up the park.'
Huskins expects the community outreach that helped Riverview to make a difference for overall tourism in the area.
'I actually had a hiker the other day and he had hiked the Appalachian Trail and he came in and said, 'Hey, I hiked the Appalachian Trail a couple of years ago. I wanted to come in and see, is there anything that I can do? Are there any businesses that I can support? What can I do to help the economy? How can I get my friends here?' So he got information on Airbnbs, he got information on the trails that are open. So there are people that are going to continue to stimulate. It's going to be affected, but there are going to be ways to get around it. I really feel that.'
Other businesses weren't as lucky as Riverview. USA Raft Adventure Resort in Unicoi County told News Channel 11 that they will not be reopening this year due to their water supply being cut off and their access road still being out.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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