ASHEVILLE – After Billy Strings sold out two weekends at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in mid-February, the city might have a new economic recovery plan after Tropical Storm Helene: booking jam bands.
Bluegrass musician Billy Strings, whose repertoire spans the music of the Grateful Dead to Black Sabbath, sold out six downtown shows the weekends of Feb. 6 and 14. The shows, drawing attendance from “all 50 states,” had a total estimated economic impact of $15.7 million, including $6.3 million in lodging revenue and $3.5 million in food sales, according to data released by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.
For days, show attendees lined up early in the morning along Haywood Street as traveling merchandisers took over the area in front of the convention center colloquially known as the “Pit of Despair.” Strings’ six shows had over 38,000 attendees. Harrah’s Cherokee Center prioritized serving fans impacted by Helene by restricting early sales to residents from designated FEMA disaster counties in North Carolina and Tennessee, according to the facility’s website.
For some hoteliers it was the first time that the cost of visiting the city actually went up since Helene hit, an indication of higher-than-usual demand. In December, the last month with data on average daily hotel rates, the average hotel stay in Asheville cost $178 — down 14% from the same time a year before.
“Billy Strings was the first time I saw people raising rates in a long time,” said BCTDA board member Michael Lusick.
Local nonprofits also received nearly $61,000 to manage bars and concession stands during the events while food and beverage staff took home a total of $250,000 in direct wages and more than $44,000 in tips. It’s likely Strings will return in 2026.
“We’re happy to say Billy’s going to be coming back next year. Can’t divulge any of the details around that, but we are super thankful for his love of Asheville.” said Vic Isley, president and CEO of Explore Asheville and the BCTDA.
January 2025 saw a nearly 44% increase in hotel demand compared to January 2024, according to the BCTDA, increasing from 123,428 to 178,048.
There were more bookings in hotels in January due to circumstances including extensions to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, long-term corporate contracts for business travel for insurance adjusters and construction, and the “start of recovery for leisure visitors and some events booked by Explore Asheville,” BCTDA spokesperson Ashley Greenstein told the Citizen Times.
FEMA’s TSA program heavily relies on bookings in local hotels across Western North Carolina. In Buncombe County, the program utilized 32,273 hotel room nights in January, a FEMA spokesperson told the Citizen Times Feb. 26. Not all residents checked into the hotel rooms were from Buncombe County.
Local government emergency service workers have also helped buoy the hospitality industry since Helene hit. Since October, Buncombe County has spent more than $1 million on local hotel rooms for emergency service workers, according to the county’s Helene spending dashboard. In November, Asheville City Council entered a contract with Biltmore Farms Hotel Group for lodging for first responders and out-of-area recovery resources. That contract was extended during council’s Feb. 25 meeting to 4,180 room nights in local hotels.
After Helene posed a potential “economic disaster” for the region, Buncombe County’s hotel industry — an industry that helps predict the economic impact of visiting tourists — has seen a roughly 7% decline for room night demand for fiscal year 2025, Isley said.
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
