News

Tourism industry braces for Equestrian Games stampede

By NANCY WACLAWEK, Published: May 25, 2018

It’s less than four months to the opening ceremonies for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) at Tryon International Equestrian Center, and Henderson County is feeling good about the games and their projected economic impact.

Hotels and B&B’s have been first to benefit, as most of their rooms are booked for the 13 days of the games, Sept. 11-23. Websites for Airbnb and HomeAway also show increased interest in Henderson County and the Asheville area. “You are coming to town at a popular time. We recommend booking soon,” Airbnb warns.

For the region, it translates to a nearly non-stop tourist season from Memorial Day through the end of December.

Beth Carden, director of the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority, said TDA has spent the last year working with businesses to ensure a warm welcome for the stampede of visitors.

“We want people to leave with a great impression of the area. People representing 20 different countries have come through my office (over the past year),” she said. “The TDA has been urging Hendersonville and Henderson County businesses to offer visitors a good experience. We want them to come back.”

‘Think hospitality’

When TIEC landed the premiere international equestrian event in November 2016, WEG was described as having “the potential to be the largest sporting event in North Carolina history, with over $400 million of projected economic impact and 500,000 spectators over the 13-day event.”

TIEC projects daily attendance of 30,000 to 50,000, with all those folks looking for something to do when they aren’t at the venue. While how much of that $400 million gold dust sprays into Hendersonville remains a moving target at the moment, the tourism industry up the Saluda Grade from the worldwide event is gearing up for guests.

“Tourists from 39 countries visited Henderson County last year so it’s not unusual” to have international visitors here, Carden said. “We have been preparing the best we can over the last year, but we don’t know what to expect” for an event of such long duration, citing the area’s experience with the 200,000 or more visitors at the two-day Garden Jubilee or four-day Apple Festival.

The message to all businesses is “be prepared and think hospitality,” Carden said. Because the major equestrian competitions will end daily at 6 p.m., TDA has encouraged restaurants and other venues to stay open late.

Visitors “will be looking for places to go. I’ve been urging shops and restaurants in Hendersonville to stay open later to accommodate these people,” Carden said. “We want to offer them an authentic experience (so) there is no reason to emphasize equestrian things or themes.”

The TDA has done “lots of education regarding the potential for increased traffic during the two weeks of the event,” she added. “We’ve been urging common sense, to motivate our people to be prepared to welcome increased tourist traffic from all over the world. We have experience with large numbers of people for events, but not for that length of time.”

She anticipates vehicle traffic to be the biggest issue during those two weeks because spectators will be staying throughout the region. Lodging at TIEC is only for athletes, judges, officials and other WEG employees. “Traffic on (Interstate) 26 going in and out of Asheville is going to be tough,” Carden said.

Hotels ‘booked solid’

Spectators who have waited until now to look for rooms had better pray they get lucky. “Cabins, Airbnb, VRBO, all hotels … all of ours are full,” Carden said.
Hoteliers confirmed the boom.
“Reservations were booked 50 weeks out, “ said Megan Pomphrey, manager of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Upward Road said. “It’s an international group through the Tryon Equestrian Center” that is staying at her 85-room hotel, which opened a year ago.

The Quality Inn & Suites across the road also is fully booked, as is the Fairfield Inn on Upward across I-26. Cascades Mountain Resort general manager Debi Smith said half her rooms are booked for those two weeks and she is expecting more. “We would love to have them,” she said.

The Bed & Breakfast on Tiffany Hill, an award-winning inn in Mills River, is fully booked for the entire two-week span. Echo Mountain Inn in Laurel Park is booked the first week of the games but has rooms for the second week, said front desk manager Jason Ghrist. “We are far more booked for that time. It is unusual for us compared to other times of the year.” Filling the 25 rooms are guests from Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, California and Wisconsin, he said.

Downtown B&B’s report similar good news. Mehmet Ozelsel, owner of Melange B&B, said he had just a few rooms left and had to turn away some weddings. His international visitors – from Chile, Germany and France – are staying a full week, while Americans are staying just a few days, he said. The Waverly Inn, the Charleston Inn and the Tudor House also have very few rooms left.

Restaurants ‘ready, aware’

In general, downtown restaurants are expecting an economic boost “but exactly what is hard to put a finger on,” Lew Holloway, Hendersonville’s downtown economic development director. “We can make projections from previous international (equestrian) games. We have visitors year-round and we are capable of handling it… September might feel like mid-July or camp drop-off week.”

Tourism numbers typically peak in July with camp visitors, followed by a quieter August and September. In that way, the games could provide an unexpected windfall. “It’s a shoulder season to leaf season,” Holloway said. Businesses downtown are “ready, aware and we’ll wait to see what happens.”

Renzo’s Ristorante on Main Street already has been scouted by a couple of international groups inquiring about dining or special events. Renzo Maietto said he has met with groups from Sweden and England that made verbal commitments to dine while they are in town. He expects them to follow up in the next several weeks. “Reputation sells it,” he said. People seek out his establishment because of the “atmosphere, style, décor, ambience.”

Burntshirt Vineyards, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards and Bold Rock Hard Cider all are anticipating increased interest in their venues during the games.

Bailey Dalton, event coordinator for Bold Rock Hard Cider, said the cidery haven’t been contacted for special events.
“There definitely has been a discussion about how WEG might affect us. We are interested in having tourists” during WEG. “We have the space and have live music,” she said.

Carolyn Sprague of Burntshirt said the Sugarloaf Road winery is “anticipating interest.”

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Traffic, road construction

Asheville Regional Airport is awaiting schedules from airlines for mid-September, said Tina Kinsey, director of marketing for the airport.
“All airlines have been informed about the games and have indicated that they will most likely increase capacity to meet demand during that time. Based on other airports’ experiences with the World Equestrian Games, we certainly anticipate an increase in passenger traffic during the event,” she said.

The State Highway Patrol “will be partnering with local law enforcement, South Carolina and NCDOT” during the games, said First Sgt. Michael D. Baker of the public information office. “We will be the lead on all traffic outside of the TIEC.… The rate of flow for traffic in and out of the center will hinge greatly upon the ability of the TIEC to move foot traffic into the facility.”

Jimmy Brissie, director of Henderson County Emergency Services, said his role is to facilitate discussion among the various law enforcement and emergency management agencies to determine responsibilities and anticipate challenges. They have been meeting for the past year.

“We are not strangers to large gatherings,” he said. “We have two events that are similar, Apple Festival and Garden Jubilee. We have a pretty good handle on what we expect to see.”
And Henderson County’s sheriff-elect has a huge role in the event. Lowell Griffin, a captain with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, is in charge of his agency’s security operations for WEG.

Three road construction projects near the TIEC are scheduled to be done before the games start, said David Uchiyama, WNC communications director for the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The interchange modification at I-26/US-74/NC-108 “was on the books for 2020 and was accelerated for WEG,” he said. The “big project, Pea Ridge Road and John Shehan Road, was on the books before the games. It is a realignment with a roundabout and drop lane.”

The U.S. 74 construction near the TIEC complex involves building two bridges and “was heavily influenced by WEG.” TIEC plans to construct a road underneath the bridges to provide vehicle access to the venue, he said.

Carden of the TDA urges the community to “take an open-minded approach and be flexible” during the games. Like the busiest day of Apple Festival, locals who abhor traffic and restaurant lines can sit it out while dining spots and hotels cha-ching the night away. “It’s a huge economic impact to our region. We are going to hunker down and survive it.”

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