Minutes from the Dec. 3, 2024, meeting of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners show that newly elected Commissioner Jenny Lynn Hooper “stated her willingness to serve on the Tourism Development Authority, Transit Board and the Mountain Projects board.” Records from those three boards show she’s missed at least 13 of 16 meetings this year. 

Despite a decline in room occupancy tax revenue, the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is celebrating a banner year for its signature winter event while doubling down on aggressive promotional campaigns and strategic long-term investments aimed at driving off-season traffic and insulating the county from mixed national trends in tourism spending. 

Haywood County is reminding local business owners that the county’s tourism development authority is conducting a survey to assess recovery progress, current needs and ongoing challenges in the wake of Hurricane Helene. 

Sales executive Ken Brown says he’ll enter the Republican Primary for North Carolina’s 118th House District, setting up a challenge to incumbent Rep. Mark Pless. 

A relative newcomer to electoral politics but a familiar figure in conservative circles, Brown will campaign on a platform of “servant leadership,” with an emphasis on collaboration, transparency and deference to local governments. 

Jackson County commissioners chose to delay an appointment to the county’s Tourism Development Authority Board for the third month in a row, leaving a board that has had difficulty filling seats in the past one member down when there are multiple applicants that have been vetted and are ready to serve. 

With a short but proven track record of funding capital projects, Jackson County will increase its occupancy tax rate to allow for more funding for its Tourism Development Authority. 

Have your say in the future of the county’s tourism industry by attending a community input session for the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority’s forthcoming destination master plan.

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority announced last week that it had awarded just over $250,000 in grants to 18 organizations for more than two dozen community projects all across the county. 

The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority (JCTDA) announced that Kara Addy, APR, its Social Media Manager, has completed the Professional in Destination Management (PDM) certificate program from Destinations International. 

It’s been a little under a year since Corrina Ruffieux took over for longtime Haywood County Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Lynn Collins, but Ruffieux’s wasted little time bolstering the TDA’s destination marketing strategy with robust and insightful data meant to show the county’s relative strengths and weaknesses while also hedging against uncertainty with new initiatives designed to keep the money flowing into Western North Carolina’s tourism-based economy — especially in post-mill Canton.