Western North Carolina needs visitors. It also needs public officials willing to share only facts, not feelings.
By Annie Dance | Cops & Congress | News & Commentary
Two years after Hurricane Helene, come visit. Book a room. Eat at a local restaurant. Spend money at a business that fought to survive.
And demand an honest account of the place you are visiting.
I live and report downstream from the Lake Lure dam in western North Carolina. I have seen the progress. I have also seen the unfinished work. Those facts belong in the same story. Recovery is not complete because a promotional video found a beautiful camera angle.
Visit North Carolina’s 2026-27 partner programs sheet offers those interested in spending a great deal of money on what I view as spin: A $2,500 custom article opportunity, a $3,000 custom itinerary, and a social media spotlight starting at $3,500 plus travel expenses. A one-day video shoot costs $12,000.
Funds would be better suited to support a local journalist with a paid subscription to Cops & Congress for much less. (Subscribe here for $9 month. If you really want to spend that kind of tourism money, I am willing to read fact-based sponsorship pitches you email me.)
The tourism spin sheet does not show that Lake Lure or Rutherford County purchased any of those services; that would require public records requests and time, or better, proactive statements from officials in writing with facts, not feelings.
However, it does show the machinery available to promote a destination. If a public agency uses it, taxpayers should be able to see what was bought, what it cost, and whether the claims were checked. The Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority (RCTDA) has millions to spend and a web of contractors assisting with messaging and millions of taxpayer recovery funds.
North Carolina law, under the Travel and Tourism Policy Act, directs the state to promote tourism. It also calls for measuring tourism’s economic and social impact. Bringing visitors back serves a real purpose; restaurants, lodging businesses, and their employees depend on them. That purpose does not excuse an incomplete or inaccurate account of recovery.
Consider a RCTDA Facebook reel video featuring Lake Lure Mayor Pro Tem David DiOrio. He said the lake had been safe since Helene and that water sampling began “just a few days” after the storm. My reporting for WCAB News found that the first documented post-storm sample in the available records was taken more than a month later. State environmental officials said they do not declare a waterbody categorically safe or unsafe; it’s all about an individual’s choice of risk in their daily life.
That’s what happens when you live in a free society: Voters and visitors alike may make choices based on known facts and reality.
DiOrio made claims about water. Then about eagles and fishing. Then about the number of people who died from the storm. So did Mayor Carol Pritchett, repeatedly, over two years. They were inaccurate, to be kind.
Pritchett, who is unaffiliated, now has two write-in opponents, John Kozma, a Republican, and Kathy Tunner, who is registered as unaffiliated. Municipal elections are non-partisan on paper, as I recently discussed with attorney Andrew LaBreche.
Two years ago today, on Sept. 25, 2024, then-governor Roy Cooper said, “buyouts are better,” as Hurricane Helene made landfall. Then he withdrew troops from Chimney Rock under then-President Joe Biden. That is the reality. On video. In public records.
Cooper has three opponents on the general election ballot, including Republican Michael Whatley.
Read more in the Cops & Congress archive, in case you missed it.
All elected officials should report facts, not feelings. That’s not just my view; any constitutional conservative would tell you that the Constitution requires that discernment. Constitutional conservatives generally emphasize that governance should be rooted in the objective text of the Constitution, established law, and empirical reality rather than subjective emotions or shifting cultural sentiments.
A visitor should not have to sort out discrepancies about water quality in a taxpayer-funded lake after seeing a government-backed tourism message. Officials should check their claims before making them.
At an April Rutherford County commissioners meeting, tourism officials also explained that money restricted to tourism purposes could not simply be redirected to help homeowners rebuild. That may be how the law works. It makes the spending choices more consequential for residents still carrying the cost of the storm.
What I mean by ‘tourism spin’
In North Carolina politics, the “tourism spin” refers to how state leaders and political factions frame the state’s massive tourism industry to push contrasting policy agendas. While both parties celebrate North Carolina’s record-breaking tourism economic numbers—which reached $37.2 billion in visitor spending—they apply different political “spins” to the data.
The One Big Beautiful Bill cut an annual subsidy to Brand USA from $100 million to $20 million. The organization, and the entire tourism industry, resolved to lobby to restore this money.
No wonder they seem to hate President Donald Trump.
The Executive Spin: Economic Resilience & Government Strategy
Democratic Governor Josh Stein and the state’s executive agencies (like the North Carolina Department of Commerce) spin the record revenue as a testament to strategic state leadership, destination marketing, and recovery resilience. Following natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, the executive branch heavily emphasizes tourism data to signal that Western North Carolina is “open for business” and that state-backed relief efforts are successfully stabilizing local economies.
The Legislative Spin: Low Budgets & Market Realities
Conversely, critics and conservative legislative analysts point out a hidden vulnerability within the record numbers: North Carolina is losing national market share. Despite the high spending totals, the state slipped from the 5th most-visited state down to 7th, according to available public records. Industry advocates and legislative factions use this to argue that North Carolina is being outcompeted by regional neighbors. They spin the drop as a warning that the state’s lean $10 million tourism marketing budget—one of the lowest in the nation—is insufficient to protect its competitive edge.
The Local Tax Spin: Police vs. Hospitality
A major policy battleground involves how local tourism taxes (like hotel/motel occupancy taxes) can be spent.
The Tourism Industry & General Assembly Spin
Some tourism groups and legislative Republicans argue that occupancy tax revenues must strictly be reinvested into tourism promotion and infrastructure. They spin any alternative use as a “misuse of funds” that threatens small businesses.
The Urban/Municipal Spin
Following a state Supreme Court ruling allowing Currituck County to use hotel taxes for public safety, urban centers like Charlotte have tried to spin tourism revenue as a legitimate funding source for local law enforcement and transit infrastructure, arguing that visitors rely heavily on public safety and city services. State lawmakers moved quickly to pass legislation blocking cities from doing this.
What’s next?
So, two years later, show us the recovery as it stands. Name the open businesses (most governments do this well, that I’ve seen). Identify the roads, facilities, and public spaces still under repair (this is more fragmented by state agency). Give visitors current water information instead of blanket assurances (this needs work). Show taxpayers the contracts and invoices for publicly funded promotion, and label paid content so audiences know what they are seeing (I’ve never seen that). The mix of messaging makes it hard to discern reality from where I sit.
People can choose to visit a community that is still rebuilding. They can support it with open eyes. What they should not have to do is discover that the official story left out the reality residents live with every day.
Visitors will be back if officials give facts and stop the spin.
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I could not agree more. Absolutely on all points.
This state government is a psychopath managed dumpster fire. The folks at the bottom are fine. I can usually get to them. But with the exception of the State Auditors office, the protocol creators and those ultimately responsible for the horrific state of agency and NCGA governance - UNRESPONSIVE and incredibly rude.