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McDowell tourism office rebrands as Destination McDowell; reports mixed recovery metrics
Summary
Tourism staff unveiled a rebrand, new visitor tools and data showing near‑term dips but steady longer-term visitation and revenues, and described projects including wayfinding, trail work and a new digital heritage passport.
McDowell County tourism staff told the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 11 that the county’s visitor brand has been changed from Blue Ridge Traveler to Destination McDowell and that staff rolled out a new website and refreshed visitor materials.
Chan Odom, tourism director, said the new domain and branding launched Sept. 1 (per presentation materials) to give the county a clearer identity for visitors. ‘‘The Blue Ridge Traveler was a great name…but it wasn't leading us with very good traffic…going with Destination McDowell really gives us that identity,’’ Odom said.
Odom outlined marketing, product and capital projects: a sub‑branding strategy (examples: Marion/Main Street, Lake James as “Blue Way,” Old Fort as “Base Camp,” Little Switzerland as “The Outpost”), phase‑1 wayfinding signage (11 signs fabricated for installation this fall with 10 additional signs approved by DOT for future phases), Arrowhead Park access work, the Old Fort streetscape, the Wolfend Loop Trail partnership and Mill Creek Park funding.
On revenue and visitation, Odom presented several industry data sets through May and July: occupancy‑tax collections were about 4% below year‑earlier levels through May (he cited 2024 as the county’s largest year, around $1,200,000 in collections); short‑term rental revenue for June was reported from AirDNA as roughly $1,500,000 with year‑to‑date short‑term revenue near $5,000,000; Placer.ai visitation estimates for July were near 99,000 visitors (about 10% down year‑over‑year but up 4.9% month‑to‑month). He also cited Visit NC figures showing $111,000,000 in visitor spending in 2023, employment of about 661 people and payroll of roughly $27,300,000; state tax and local tax figures were described as about $4,000,000 and $3,900,000, respectively.
Odom described product work aimed at niche markets: a McDowell Heritage Trail digital passport (20 sites; users check in by QR code and can earn prizes), an ‘‘Underexposed’’ mountain‑biking series and an influencer visit to market mountain biking and other outdoor recreation. He noted that some Parkway sections remain closed and that trail access is an ongoing concern for advertising and shuttle planning.
Ending: Commissioners thanked tourism staff for detailed data; Odom said staff will continue to refine marketing, press outreach and wayfinding implementation and will share performance updates as new months of occupancy tax and visitation data arrive.
