Asheville tourism officials lure Atlantans to town with food, food and more Asheville food

7 Comments

1. 

   Leslie April 2, 2011

   Lousy strategy to go to Atlanta and try and hype food and beer. This beer city stuff is a sham, based on totally bogus Internet poll. Atlanta has much better food and bars than here any time of the year. They should be promoting the Blue Ridge Pkwy, mountains, hiking whitewater rafting, etc. Those are why people come here.

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2. 

   Asheville Dweller April 1, 2011

   This "Freaky" Fad is going to back fire . . .Oh wait its in the process of. Being "Freaky" doesnt bring in needed jobs to the area.

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3. 

   ThePhan April 1, 2011

   Atlanta is a huge, expensive market with millions of people–many of whom don't know anything about Asheville. This is a good use of marketing dollars.

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4. 

   Hadley April 1, 2011

   I looked at the link for this promotion and am more than a bit confused. Foodtopia seems to be a contest page and you have to look hard to see a link to Asheville NC. Just can't imagine this being very successful with the theme of food to draw visitors.

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5. 

   Dancy April 1, 2011

   I agree about Atlanta not being the right place to promote tourism to Asheville. We've already got that market covered with lots of GA folks visiting here all the time.

   And, I don't see how food in AVL is the real draw — people want to visit here because of the mountains and outdoor activities — some great food here, but that shouldn't be the marketing hook, especially with Atlanta having far more food choices that little ole Asheville.

   I would suggest more promotion of Asheville in central and eastern North Carolina (Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham, etc.). We always tend to overlook that part of our own state North Carolina. Atlanta is already covered, cause they already come here.

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6. 

   bartholomew April 1, 2011

   Actually Atlanta is a fantasic spot to market Asheville. Don't know if you've noticed but people still aren't spending a lot of money on vacations that include distance travel. Hitting up Atlantans to visit our town is where they need to focus. Driving distance is what folks are looking at, not flying. Atlanta, Charlotte, Knoxville and those cities within a few hours car ride are optimal target markets until people are willing to fly in from places like Chicago and Florida and beyond. These people do this for a living. Let them do it and we can welcome the folks they attract.

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7. 

   E April 1, 2011

   This seems pretty stupid. Why promote Asheville tourism in Atlanta when people there are already very familiar with Asheville and lots of Atlanta residents already visit here and many live in the mountains part of the year? Seems like they would want to go after some other areas to market Asheville. More poor marketing — they need to be more creative and think outside the box. Atlanta is a given.

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