Written by Maddy May, PRTM undergraduate student.
The second webinar in the Destination Ready Series showcased destination organizations providing critical support, specifically after a disaster strikes. This webinar continued the conversation around strengthening resilience in tourism, focusing not just on preparedness, but on what recovery actually looks like.
Our first speaker, Dodie Stephens, Vice President of Marketing for Explore Asheville(1), shared how the community responded to Hurricane Helene. While downtown avoided major physical damage, Asheville experienced a significant economic blackout, with early projections estimating up to 48 months for visitor spending to fully recover. Despite the uncertainty, the community quickly began laying the groundwork for long-term progress, recognizing that recovery would take planning and strong collaboration.
An important theme in Asheville’s approach is the use of the word “rebound.” Dodie emphasized that recovery is not one-size-fits-all; some parts of the community recover faster than others. “Rebound” reflects forward movement while acknowledging that recovery is still ongoing. While, tourism numbers are returning to near pre-Helene levels, she emphasized that this progress is really driven by the community.
Early decisions played a critical role in shaping this success. Programs like “Love Asheville From Afar”(2) connected a global audience to local businesses, featuring over 770 small businesses and engaging more than 113,000 users. Dodie highlighted the importance of building flexible systems and saying “yes” quickly, which empowered nonprofits and community partners to take on important roles during recovery. Financial support was also essential. The Always Asheville Fund(3) provided micro-grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, helping businesses reopen quickly and reducing long-term struggle. In total, $2.2 million was raised to support small businesses in Buncombe County, showing how important collaboration with local businesses is to both the local economy and tourism.
Finally, Asheville leveraged high-profile events to support recovery efforts. Events like Concert for Carolina(4) and others helped raise funds, restore community pride, and re-engage visitors. As Dodie noted, these amplified moments served multiple purposes, contributing to both economic and emotional recovery.
Our next speaker was Glayds Sosa Jones, who is the Event Experiences Manager at VisitGreenvilleSC(5), where she serves as the bridge between sales, marketing, and on-the-ground operations to bring meetings and group events to life. Gladys highlighted a different but equally important approach to resilience through A La Heart Greenville(6), a program focused on supporting hospitality workers during times of crisis. The organization provides emergency assistance for needs such as illness, injury, natural disasters, maternity leave, and funeral expenses, with a mission rooted in building a compassionate and supportive tourism community.
In its first year, A La Heart Greenville set a fundraising goal of $100,000 but exceeded expectations, securing over $223,500 in multi-year commitments and grant funding. While fundraising has been strong, Gladys noted that increasing awareness and application submissions remain a key focus. Because the hospitality industry is fast-paced with high turnover, word-of-mouth has been one of the most effective ways to spread the word, but also one of the most difficult aspects. Building partnerships with nonprofits has also been critical in improving communication and ensuring that those in need are aware of available resources.
The model is already gaining traction beyond Greenville, with efforts to replicate it in other destinations, including Myrtle Beach. This really shows how community-driven support systems can make a difference by focusing on the people behind tourism, not just the industry itself.
This webinar highlighted how destinations can support both their communities and their workforce in times of crisis. From Asheville’s focus on economic rebound to Greenville’s people-first approach, the session showed that recovery takes collaboration, flexibility, and care. Overall, it reinforced that strong, connected communities are at the heart of a resilient tourism industry.
