Variety Vacationland

Charles Heathley is Director of the Division of Travel and Tourism in the State Department of Commerce. One of the things we would like to think about now is planning our summer vacations and we want to see a North Carolina may have a number of options and we want to talk about some of them. It's been called a variety vacation land, Charles, and if summer approaches, is this really the time to start planning for any particular area if you wait much later you might miss out on? Well, for you really need to plan ahead in choosing not only an area but a specific place to go to because we do indeed have a variety vacation land here, three very distinct regions in North Carolina, the mountains, the Piedmont and the coast, give North Carolina some very unique choices and because of that, our state is a very popular place to be, also because of our efforts to promote North Carolina, it's a popular place for out-of-state people to come. So, we anticipated, we anticipated a very successful year this year and we hope that all of our facilities are going to be filled which will require that anyone interested in a North

Carolina trip plan well ahead in order to be able to choose the specific places where he or she wants to go and enjoy a few days of relaxation. Are there one or two areas more popular, myself always think of the beaches as summer rolls around? Is that in fact the most popular place or is it somewhere else? Well, it's hard to say and I wouldn't put myself in a great situation of turmoil to pick one place over the other. We actually promote North Carolina and all of its many things, but there are some very unique and special places in each of the regions, certainly the beaches are very popular in the summer because it's a place where you can go and you can watch the surf and watch the other people that come to enjoy and to relax. With you during the summer almost all of our beaches are completely filled all the rooms and along the entire coast, but at the same time the mountains provide an alternative destination that's equally attractive and if you like a number of outdoor recreational activities

the Peatmont offers a good show so you really couldn't say which is the most popular. Actually I hope people will have a great deal of difficulty choosing and will end up traveling to see each of the three regions this year. Now in thinking about North Carolina beaches I guess I was just wondering if all of them have the same flavor. We think of the outer banks somehow as being very natural and very rustic and untouched and then you get to places where you think it may be busier like a more head city or Wilmington where there may be more commercialization shall we say. And some people are worried about the development of condominiums as spoiling these areas. Do you have any concerns in that regard? Because of the very strict coastal regulations that are in effect in the entire North Carolina coast I don't think that we will ever see a beach in North Carolina that's congested and that's good because that's one of our great natural resources and we should preserve it and protect it so that future generations will be able to enjoy it.

It is true that the outer banks of North Carolina is a very enchanted place and one reason it's so far away, it's difficult to get there and when you get there you can enjoy a few days in a very remote place. One reason that's true is because on the North Carolina coast we have two national seashores Cape Patras and Cape Lookout. Cape Patras of course has already developed Cape Lookout as limited access but Cape Patras you can go in for 60 miles you know not see a commercial facility and that's tremendous. You can go and park your car and get off and walk down an isolated beach at some times of the year where there's even no other people. Also there is the Cape Patras Lighthouse which is the oldest lighthouse in the area and the largest in America. We're very proud of it because of the heritage it has. All of those things including Jockey's Ridge which is the tallest sand dunes on the East coast and Kitty Hall which is where the first powered flight took place by Wilbur and

Oval Wright in 1903. All of these attractions make the outer banks very special but you see that's only one third of the North Carolina coast. As you mentioned you still have the central coast, the crystal coast which they call it in the quarter of county. It's a very successful beach because it is well developed but if you've been there likely there's still a lot of places where there are no condos or even private residences along the beach. In addition to being popular for folks just to go and to look at the ocean it's also a very popular place this time of year and again in the fall for fishermen because fishing is very good there. And then when you get to the southern coast you've got the Azayas that are coming in bloom this month and will be very beautiful and will be the subject of the Azayas Festival at Wilmington. You have the USS North Carolina battleship which attracts every 100,000 visitors each year and you can go and you can see a special part of North Carolina's history and these and many other things are all influential and causing people to come to the coast and to be happy

while they're there. Well I guess we are very lucky and this is still a very green state and there are a lot of areas dedicated to preserving it. A lot of state and federal parks here in North Carolina are there any of those that may be overlooked that you think people should discover? Well we're very fortunate in having two national seashores which were the first two national seashores to be established in the national park system. We've got a couple of park facilities that by virtue of their popularity or unique the great Smoky Mountains National Park which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary is the most popular park in the entire national park system drawing almost 9 million visitors a year. It's not a very good secret a lot of people know about it. It offers a tremendous variety of things to do in addition to going looking at the mountains and enjoy the great beauty you can go there and be cool in the summer which is in a couple of months going to be a nice thing to do but at the same time it offers a look at some

almost virgin forest where you can't see in many places and there are a lot of trails that you can go and just walk deep into the woods and enjoy a native forest. That's just one of many facilities, the Blue Ridge Parkway. This year in 1985 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of that facility. It's the most popular parkway in the entire country. We share it with the junior and together we draw about 19 million visitors each year on that parkway. You could consider the parkway almost as a laboratory. So where else in the world can you travel along the crest line of a mountain range and see the many hundreds of miles of scenic beauty that unfold beneath the parkway. It's a tremendous attraction and a lot of people already know about it and a lot more I hope we're going to discover this year. In addition we've got two wilderness areas in the mountains. You've got national parks outside the mountains.

The UR is near Chapel Hill not too far from Chapel Hill. Then we have an excellent state park system that has provided many, many fine hours of relaxation and comfort for our own people. Now someone wants to go camping in some of these mountain areas. What kind of facilities are available and who do they contact and how much does it cost? Well there's a tremendous variety of campers nowadays. They vary from the really hardy outdoorsmen who packs his tent on his back and you know we'll hike in and camp very ruggedly to the motorhome owner who might spend up to $200,000 on his rig who wants to be as comfortable in the wilderness areas when he's home. So you can take your choice. You can buy the facilities at almost any outdoor recreational facility in your home community which is advisable because it takes a lot of planning to get the right things so that you'll be comfortable when you get there you know you don't want to hike 10 miles back

into a wilderness area and then remember that you forgot to match this to build a fire with that's very inconvenient. As far as the more sophisticated camping rigs you can rent those facilities at almost any place in the state and it would be advisable to rent them before you purchase them because you might not enjoy that type of thing and it's always best to experiment before you invest a lot of money in it. But camping is an excellent way to enjoy our state's resources because you can get very close to some of the greatest attractions that we have in North Carolina. We didn't talk about I guess when looking at the beaches what some of the moon rates will go for. We always hear that everything doubles and price in the summertime in those areas. Is it really that bad? Well I wouldn't say that it doubles in the summertime. What happens tourism is an important part of our economy and because of the important contributions which travel expenditures make to our state we promote the industry aggressively

as we should and at the same time many local people make their livelihood in this industry. And what comes out of this is that you have a rate structure that is higher during the peak season because that's when the greater demand is it and many of the facilities are only open during the summer months although we're encouraging more to stay open later in the fall and to open up earlier in the spring because that's a great potential for us to increase our level of activity. But it is true that generally peak rates are in place during the summer months because that's when the great demand is. But at the same time if you have the flexibility in your lifestyle to do so I would encourage that you plan earlier trips in the spring when off season rates are in effect. And in the fall again when off season rates are in effect. And you can enjoy a trip at reduced prices and also generally most of those areas around crowded during those off season months.

You mentioned that tourism is such a big business in North Carolina. We know how much money came into the state as a result of tourism in 1984. Four billion dollars was spent in 1984 by people traveling in North Carolina. It's the state's third largest industry and growing very rapidly. Were these mostly people within the state or were they people coming in from other places? Two thirds of our vestiges are from out of state. And you can see that's a very, very important part of our economy is to continue selling North Carolina to the out of state vestiges. But then a third of this four billion dollars was spent by North Carolina and it's mostly taking short trips, weekend trips because one of the great things about being of a variety vacation land like we are is that from anywhere in the central part of the state within just three to four hours you can be either at the beaches or the mountains or in just a matter of minutes you can be on a very nice cough course. And even if you live at one of the extremities it's not an unreasonable drive to get to the other end of the state and to enjoy what that area has to offer.

Well I'm sure most of have seen the television ads to see Alaska or to go to Florida or you know come home to Jamaica even is North Carolina doing similar campaigns in other places? So we spend two million dollars a year marketing North Carolina basically in a media advertising campaign all of that is directed at the out of state market which provides two thirds of the expenditures because number one that's a very small budget to sell such a great product as we have and we don't feel that we have enough money to sell it already to our primary market the out of state to folks. And we intend and certainly hope to do more in the future to take advantage of the potential that this industry has to become even more important in our state economy but yes we are selling North Carolina very aggressively particularly in our key market areas of Florida Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Why are they key market areas?

Because if you look at these states these states do not have mountains that can compete with ours our mountains are the highest on East Coast. Many of these states are landlocked in that they have no beaches, Ohio and western Pennsylvania for example. So our beaches are very very attractive vacation destinations for those folks. Our number one state is Florida. Most of the Floridians come to the mountains of North Carolina and we're happy that they do. I'm interesting. How about special resort areas? We have southern ponds and pine herds and maybe a couple of others are they selling well? Yes. Extremely well. The resorts in all areas, Baldhead Island for example on the southern coast, pine herds is really the birthplace of golf. Anybody that follows the game of golf is heard of pine herds and hopefully more and more people will come in to enjoy it but pine herds is just one of many resorts in the sand hills area. There are actually more than 30 golf courses there within a 25 mile radius and golf is a contagious activity because when you come to an area and play one good course, you can't really

be satisfied until you play them all and we hope that more people catch that spirit. Then of course in the mountains, there are dozens and dozens of fine resort areas there. Jack Necklace for example who has a sun and skill in Chapel Hill is building a golf course in the mountains of North Carolina and there are many resorts throughout the mountains and throughout the entire state that are very nice places to go. I guess some of the other specialty areas we have mentioned might be Old Salem or Bath where the historic preservation is very strong. All of the historical attractions right very high in our research among what people like to see whenever they travel to a vacation destination and this state, you know, with its 400 years of history and heritage, is blessed with a tremendous variety of historically significant things. You mentioned Old Salem to go there and to see how the Moravians established a civilization before we were civilized people is really inspiring but you started to waste for example

over at the Western border. The Cherokee, you know, with the original Americans, their civilization gets back we know for 10,000 years or so and there at the O'Connell lefty village you can see how the early Cherokee Indians lived. It's a very inspiring part of our state. Here in Raleigh, our state capital, there are a tremendous variety of historical attractions. Did you know for example this month we have the John White drawings on display at the North Carolina Museum of History, John White was one of the first the first governors of the lost colony and you know photography was not invented at that time so John White drew what he saw of the early colony and it truly is a rich experience to go and to look at the drawings that have been preserved for 400 years and to see how early American life existed at that point. The many historical attractions on the coast, Kitty Hall, were the first powered flight

took place and began Man's Conquist of Space in 1903, that's inspiring and on south to the USS North Carolina Battleship which played an important role in our effort to preserve freedom in World War II. These are just a few of the hundreds of historically significant things that cause people to come here and of course you know entertain them while they are in North Carolina. I know some people who hadn't thought this early who really like to visit battlefield and graveyard somehow they never have been very high on a mindless of things to do but there are people who are interested in those. I'm aware of the battlefield at Guilford County where else are what they are that's scattered about. There are a number of Civil War battlegrounds although we're very fortunate and not much of the Civil War was fought in North Carolina there were several scrimmages but no major battles. The Battle of Guilford Courthouse as you mentioned is truly a significant place because even though the British don't admit it, it was really a turning point in the war.

Cornwallis, your recall, said that he won that battle and it is true that when the sun went down he still held the same terrain that he began the day with and generals placed a high value on terrain but at the same time Cornwallis lost over a third of his troops and there were no replacements from England at that time. The British Parliament commented on Cornwallis' victory and said one more such victory would destroy the British Empire. Cornwallis of course you know retreated to Wilmington and then finally marched north the next spring and met this young Virginia officer who had an excellent press agent who said he whipped him but I happen to think that Cornwallis was defeated at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Each year some 25,000 people come and have react that that's you know a typical success story and how that historical attraction has become an important part of our state's travel industry.

I guess the final special area I thought about was what is known as Juckton but is actually in Seagrove and the fine craftsman who practiced there. Juckton is one of the very fine pottery places in the community of Seagrove. Many of these potters, their families go back for generations and we're actually practicing potters during the Civil War. You can go there and you can watch these craftsmen turn out their pots and their bowls and their jugs and you can see them fire the pottery in the kiln and then you can see the finished product which is available for sale. It's one of the very special places in the state that causes thousands of people really to search out the places and many of these places operate out of a potter's home or in a little shed that's just across the yard from the home. It's truly a very significant place to go and while you're there you ought to see the North Carolina Zoo. We have the only state zoo in the entire country. It's a developing zoo but it's one of our great resources that already attracts more than

a half million people each year and is going to become an even greater force in the state's travel industry and years ahead because it's such a delightful place. It's designed as an open concept where you're almost there with the animals and the terrain that looks like Africa or the other special places. But the pottery attractions are a nice place to go and do some other things nearby. The state has a number of rivers and things that I would imagine are quite popular for canoeing or whitewater rafting. I haven't quite gotten that close to nature myself but do we have special arrangements or people who need information about which ones are safe and that kind of thing? Well, Phil, I'm glad you raised that question and our office in the Division of Tourism. We have a tremendous amount of information available and if anyone will just simply pick up the phone and dial 800 visit NC. We will provide you with all the information that you could possibly want to plan a vacation

which will include among other things information about rafting. In the mountains there are a number of rivers that are very, very popular for rafting and they're very in degrees of safety but generally you have to go down with an outfitter. This is a person that provides the boat and the safe gear and the instruction then will provide an escort so that you don't accidentally bounce out of the boat or fall out. But the Nanna Hela over in the Nanna Hela National Forest is one of the more popular rivers because it can get a little rough particularly when the water is up. The French broad near Asheville is also another popular place. It's tamer than the Nanna Hela. It's a very nice place because it's easily accessible but the information that's available from the Division of Tourism will provide a choice of places to go and enjoy this new sport.

For those who are totally opposed or want to get away from all the outdoors and be in a big city and feel that right across the polytons, Nanna Hela is not known as a state with big cities so how do you tackle that problem? So we're very fortunate I think that we don't have any single big city which is usually accompanied with a lot of big city problems. Instead we have a lot of very nice little cities like Raleigh and Durham and Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Asheville and Wilmington. These are very delightful places to go, most of which offer the amenities of a large city but are easy to get around in and much safer to be in in some of the large cities. And just simply by looking at the information that's available and pursuing whatever activity that's of special interest to you, you can find almost any activity in one or more of these cities.

You know this summer we have a number of musical festivals and a number of other special promotions. These are highlighted in a book that's available from the Division of Tourism called our Events Calendar. And again if you'll just call this special number 800 visit NC and request our general package to include the Events Calendar, you can see what's going on all summer. We certainly have gone all over as many things as I could think of to go over are there other things that you would recommend people do or I guess in terms of budgeting, is there anyone there who could give them information on costs when they decide where to put it all together? Not in our office there isn't because this is a matter strictly for the private sector. Our job is to promote North Carolina to make sure that all the information about the great destination and the great variety of things to see and do. Our job is to make sure this information is made public. But I would recommend that in the process of making plans to get to a specific place at the price bid rest when you call the lodging facilities, have a clear understanding of

what the rate is going to be and make sure that this is what you can afford and then plan your activity. It's a much more enjoyable vacation if you sit down and advance and figure out what it's going to cost and then you know and understand and accept that. You did not mention one thing that's very special to me and that's something that North Carolina has a tremendous almost a monopoly of. There's so many places that if you really are tired of crowds and congestion and you just want to get away, you know, you can really get away, you can go to a nice related beach even in the middle of the summertime and just enjoy the solitude. There are many places back in the mountains of North Carolina that you can go and be almost by yourself in a number of the state parks, even at the peak season, you know, you can go in and get your boat and get out on a lake and all of a sudden you're alone. That's one of the nice things about our state is that even though we are a very progressive state with a significantly large population, there's enough surplus space out there to

where you can just go and get away and relax and enjoy yourself. And that's another thing that makes North Carolina such a popular destination. Well, for anyone out there who is in planning, let's give them that phone number one more time. Thank you. For special assistance with your travel plans, just simply call the Division of Travel and Tourism at 1-800-Visit-N-C. What's your thoughts, Heather Lee, who is Director of the Division of Travel and Tourism has very aptly taken us on a tour of the state and we thank him for joining us and we encourage you to make your plans and to see North Carolina this summer. I'm Faith Mitchell-Henderson for WUNC.