Tourism's impact reported

In 2006, tourists in the North Carolina High Country spent $402,630,000, according to statistics recently released for the six- county region of the High Country.

Counties included are Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Wilkes and Watauga.

According to the data, Alleghany had the second lowest increase in tourism expenditures and the lowest overall tourism expenditures of the six counties.

Locally, Alleghany Chamber of Commerce Director Bob Bamberg said Alleghany performs well against its neighbors on a per capita basis.

"We are the smallest county in population of the six counties in the High Country Host area, according to the Census 2000 results." Bamberg pointed out that Alleghany ranks eighth among the smallest counties in state on the basis of population.

"The expenditure that are reported for us were $17.95 million," said Bamberg. "On a per resident basis, visitor spending was $1,680 per person. Using our population in that way helps even the playing field and gives a more apples-to-apples comparison." Using that method, Bamberg said Alleghany would rank third among the six counties, bested only by Avery with $5,202 per capita and Watauga.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back