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6/26/02

It’s high season for complaining about tourists

By John Beckman
There’s an extra shot of energy that moves into in these mountains about this time each year. It’s as if a great magnetic switch is thrown somewhere that draws people undeniably toward it from all directions, from near and far. As the mercury climbs in thermometers across the region and those delicious mid-70s and low-80s become the norm, this powerful attraction changes the landscape and the lives of the local residents who dwell here.

The hotter afternoons of June bring not only full canopies to the hillside forests and early garden vegetables, but also the seasonal wave of tourists and travelers seeking a glimpse of the beauty and peaceful way the world used to be, a world that theses people’s hometown cities have seemingly forgotten. The warmer temperatures signal the start of the summer tourist high season, and with them comes the associated huge increase in traffic on local roads as visitors make their way through a myriad of destinations, attractions and vacation experiences.

Fuller highways mean fuller motels, restaurants, stores, attractions and as a result, fuller county coffers. The timing couldn’t be more right this year for the influx of tourists and the cash they circulate through local economies as the state wrestles with budget shortfalls, program cuts and hiring freezes. The impact travelers have on mountain area businesses this time of year is immense. In Jackson County alone, travel and tourism revenue has grown from under $33 million in 1990 to more than $ 48 million by 1999, a nearly 50-percent increase. I suspect neighboring counties are showing similar trends. Many mountain residents count on the summer months to produce most of the income they survive on during the rest of the year. Vacationers and summer residents are a blessing to many local businesses that count on their return each year like so many other migratory species who flock to remote areas for a summer of feeding and enjoyment. The blessing is received by locals in different ways, for some when the flocks arrive, for others when they leave.

U.S. 441 runs from somewhere in Florida, through Great Smoky Mountain National Park, into Tennessee and beyond. It’s also the only road that takes me anywhere except to one of my neighbors’ houses, so I get to spend some time and miles on it most days. I’ve also taken to setting up shop along its shoulders from the back of my pick-up, hawking plants and vegetables from our farm to passers-by to keep the farm running, or at least limping, along. I’ve had some interesting encounters with some of the roadside shoppers who stopped to check out my wares or ask directions on their way across the mountains, and oftentimes they’ve entertained me at least as much as I have them.

The four-lane carries a good bit of traffic at 55 to 65 m.p.h. most days, not like the over-crowded 8-lane monsters I used to drive in Raleigh where I would often wonder where all the cars could possibly come from and where could everyone be headed ? Around here it seems that once you eliminate the logging and equipment trucks, delivery vans, hard-working pick-ups, and busy local parents from the vehicles using the road, it leaves a lot of out-of-towners enjoying all that the region has to offer. While spending my time on U.S. 441, I’ve noticed that the majority of the travelers’ cars are wearing peaches, oranges, palm trees and manatees on their bumpers, revealing their more southern origins. The promise of cooler temps and tree-laden vistas seems sufficient to lure every make and model on a northern course, away from the beaches and flatlands where they spend the other months in a warmer winter’s hibernation.

They’re on the road for all kinds of reasons, going to places from rapids to racetracks and cabins to casinos. Sometimes, when by whatever chance you get the opportunity to meet them, they’ll share a little of their stories with you. You never know whose path you’re going to cross. It may be your neighbor from the next cove over or someone who knows your friend in Connecticut. A lot of “those tourists” are just like many of us were several years ago before we settled into the mountain counties from other towns and states, looking for a place surrounded by verdant hills and unspoiled natural beauty to call home. Maybe they too are seeking the comforts of a quiet starlit cove on a summers night, away from the hum and buzz enveloping most of America. Maybe it’s the picture of a log cabin in the woods, or a boat with a fishing line lazily thrown over its side, or the sound of peepers and crickets at night that brings them here, and back again and again.

When you live in a place where others take their vacation, I think it’s important to be particularly hospitable to visitors instead of riled by their apparent ignorance of local ways and places. Keep in mind it is those same people asking the stupid questions that are helping to pay for schools, police and fire protection, and much of the community infrastructure we local folks need and use all year long. Besides that, if they like it here as much as you do, they may move in next door, and chances are they’ll soon be complaining about “those tourists.”

(John Beckman is a builder, organic farmer, and operations manager at Unahwi Ridge Community in Jackson County. He can be reached at www.unahwiridge.com)