A record number of applicants are seeking seats on the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority, likely spurred by the ongoing tug of war over the best way to spend $650,000 annually in tourism promotion dollars.

The tug-of-war over how best to spend tourism promotion dollars in Haywood County continues, but this time it appears it will be left up to county commissioners to sort out.

A task force charged with inspecting the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is attempting to reshape the county’s approach to tourism promotion.

According to a recently-released National Park Service study, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is not only the nation’s most visited national park, it also tops the 388 national park units in visitor spending.

People are saying the new Ghost Town will be a shot in the arm for Maggie Valley. That’s probably an understatement, but the new development and its cash infusion into this tourist town will also provide an important opportunity to talk about the future of Western North Carolina, especially as it pertains to the number of visitors and the changing tourism industry.

Hundreds of people ascended to Ghost Town, a beloved mountaintop amusement park in Maggie Valley, for an open house Monday celebrating news that the park will reopen next year.

As the new owners of Ghost Town in the Sky pondered whether the dated mountaintop amusement park was a good business venture, one of their first questions was how many visitors they could feasibly expect to attract.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Once more, for the last time — Ghost Town has sold.

The announcement came Tuesday morning as regional economic developers unveiled plans for the Maggie Valley theme park to reopen in May 2007. Hank Woodburn, owner of Adventure Landing, which has nine amusement attractions in four states, Al Harper, owner of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, and Peter Hairston, an independent venture capitalist were expected to close the deal with Ghost Town owner R.B. Coburn Tuesday afternoon.

Men between the ages of 45 and 65 who visit the 25-county Blue Ridge National Heritage Area are most interested in outdoor recreation. Women, on the other hand, are more interested in craft activities.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Late last month Macon County consultant Gary Nicholson sent out 351 letters to local accommodations owners to begin building a database of who is supposed to pay the county’s 3 percent tax on overnight lodging aimed at tourists.