May 18, 2021

Explore Asheville is charting a new course for the tourism community aligned with broader community goals. These efforts are being organized around four strategic pillars that we've been discussing with community leaders and partners in a 4-part series of lunchtime webinars as this year's annual Tourism Summit. Please join us tomorrow for our final community discussion in this series.

TOURISM SUMMIT - PART 4:
'Promote & Support Asheville's Creative Spirit'
Wednesday, May 19, 12:00 - 1:15 p.m.

Community Panelists [shown above, starting from left, top row]:

• Franzi Charen, Director, Asheville Grown Business Alliance; Co-Owner, Hip Replacements
• Katie Cornell, Executive Director, Asheville Area Arts Council
• Cleaster Cotton, Artist/Educator/Author
• Jessica Tomasin, Founder, Connect Beyond Festival; Studio Manager, Echo Mountain Recording
• Lucius Wilson, General Manager, Wedge Brewing Co.; President, River Arts District Business Association

Inspiration & Insight: Rodney Payne, Co-founder & CEO of Destination Think, provides thoughts on this subject to help set the stage for the panel discussion. View Rodney's remarks before tuning in for this webinar HERE>>

Get More Details: Tourism Summit 2021 Webinars

Photo of Jessica Tomasin by Sandlin Gaither

In case you missed them...

Our other community discussions in this virtual series took place on May 10, May 12 and May 17. View recordings of these sessions using the links below:

'Deliver Balanced Recovery & Sustainable Growth,' with UNC Asheville Chancellor Nancy Cable, Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell, Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder, and Asheville Chamber President & CEO Kit Cramer.

WATCH RECORDING HERE >>

'Encourage Safe & Responsible Travel,' with Amy Allison, Director, NC's Outdoor Recreation Industry Office; Dawn Chavez, Executive Director, Asheville GreenWorks; and Peyton O'Connor, Director, Buncombe County Parks & Recreation. (Note: Buncombe County Commissioner Terri Wells was scheduled to join in but experienced technical difficulties.)

WATCH RECORDING HERE >>

'Engage & Invite More Diverse Audiences,' with Aisha Adams, Program Director of Lenoir Rhyne Equity & Diversity Institute; Adriana Chavela, Executive Director, Hola Carolina; Himanshu Karvir, President & CEO of Virtelle Hospitality and Chair of Buncombe County TDA; Catherine P. Mitchell, Executive Director, River Front Development Group, Inc.; Anthony Thomas, Board member, YMI Cultural Center; Tina White, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Pride.

WATCH RECORDING HERE >>

TIP: Order lunch before tuning in!

Before joining this webinar, here's an idea: Order lunch to-go from your favorite AIR restaurant (and to make it even easier on yourself, use Kickback AVL to have your lunch delivered!).