Watauga County, North Carolina

WATAUGA COUNTY , NORTH CAROL INA of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System adds, “These people are wanting to get away, they want to feel safe.” Watauga County’s location within the Appalachian Mountain range offers outstanding views, fresh mountain air, and plenty of recreational opportunities thanks to a four- season climate. Tourists and residents alike have plenty of activities nearby, including long hikes along scenic trails, kayaking along the county’s two rivers (the New River and the Watauga River), cruising down ski slopes in the winter, and taking in a game of tennis or golf in the summer. These are among the many benefits that have drawn attention to the county throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. “We actually fared very well during COVID and I think that comes back to a couple of factors,” says Wright Tilley, Executive Director of Watauga County Tourism Authority. “One, there’s this perception of clean mountain air – we are not a large city-type destination, so we had this perception in the travelling public as being a safe destination. We also saw an uptick in regional travel. Pre-COVID, a large percentage of our visitors were in-state, and so we saw that footprint expand a bit more into a four-to-six- hour radius. There was also a huge increase in the amount of visitation and web traffic from the Atlanta market, for example.” With the increase in tourism came a record ski season this year. “I think that comes from people who were still reluctant to get on airplanes and go out west or go further up north,” Tilley says. “We were literally the closest ski destination for people in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, and so our ski resorts certainly reaped the benefit of that during this last year.” In addition to tourists, Watauga County is also home to many seasonal residents who are looking for an escape from the summer heat of their home states. “They come here for the