Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:

Question: I’ve heard that visitation at the Biltmore Estate is down by something like 40 percent. Is that correct? Is it still Helene driving that? Also, I heard the estate had to lay off about 1,000 workers because of the slow times. Is that correct? If not, what is the number?

My answer: I suspect, “It’s Helene’s fault,” shall remain a viable explanation for just about every piece of bad news we hear through the year 2035.

Real answer: These are indeed slow times for visitation around here, as the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority noted after its May meeting. For April, hotel demand was down seven percent from last year, and hotel occupancy, at 64 percent, was down five points from 2024 and 10 points from 2019. 

Additionally, vacation rentals dropped, with April vacation rental occupancy standing at 51 percent, down two points from 2024 and three points from 2019. Vacation rental demand fell 21 percent compared to last year, the TDA reported.

“Like so many in our region, Biltmore continues to feel the effects of Helene,” estate spokesperson Marissa Jamison told me via email. “Our focus remains on supporting our employees and community while working to ensure the long-term stability of the estate.”

Immediately after Helene struck the area Sept. 27, visitation to the estate dropped by about 60 percent, Jamison said.

“Since reopening on Nov. 2, 2024, we’ve been grateful to welcome more than 500,000 guests,  thanks to the dedication of our incredible team,” Jamison said. “While visitation is still about 30 percent below typical levels, we are encouraged by a steady upward trend.”

It helps that the estate’s extensive gardens, a big draw, are in full bloom, and the estate has an ongoing King Tut exhibition.

Biltmore acknowledged making some job cuts but did not provide specifics about how many positions were affected.

“Our staffing levels fluctuate with the seasons, which is common in the tourism industry,” Jamison said. “Impacts from Helene led to more adjustments than usual, including some temporary furloughs and position eliminations. These were difficult but necessary steps to support the estate’s ongoing recovery.”

Eligible employees did receive severance packages.

A Biltmore fact sheet online states the estate employs about 2,300 people in Buncombe and surrounding counties. In the past, the company has noted that the level of employees fluctuates by season, with the fall and Christmas season being the busiest.

“We’re looking ahead with optimism as we prepare to welcome more team members for the Christmas season,” Jamison said. “As usual, staffing will naturally scale back during winter, in line with our seasonal visitation patterns.”

Question: I attended the Steep Canyon Rangers concert May 29 at Pack Square Park and was blown away by the amount of people, the energy, and of course the talent. I haven’t been able to find one news story about it, even though there were thousands attending. So how many folks are estimated to have attended, and why hasn’t there been anything in the news about the event?

My answer: Because everybody behaved themselves?

Real answer: Hayden Plemmons, executive director with the Asheville Downtown Association, provided the official attendance estimate: 9,800.

“We use a technology called Placer.AI to track pedestrian foot traffic,” Plemmons said via email, explaining how the association had arrived at that number.

That is indeed a whopping attendance figure and a nice tribute to the Rangers, who offered the free show as a way to bring the community together.

As far as why there hasn’t been news coverage since then, I can offer a couple of theories, as someone with 35 years experience in the news business.

First, numerous outlets did publish or run stories previewing the show, which undoubtedly drove attendance. 

Secondly, with events like these, that are feel-good stories, they’re generally not going to get a lot of followup coverage unless something bad happens, or they raise a gargantuan amount of money, like the Concert for Carolina did in October. That event raised more than $24.5 million for Helene relief.

News organizations generally have pretty tight staffing these days, and a Thursday night event would require a fair amount of resources to cover. I suspect most news outlets were moving on to the next story by then and preparing content for the weekend.

Question: It seems like we’ve had more haze lately, but it hasn’t seemed overly humid. Is this because of the decomposition of all of the trees downed by Helene? And a related question: Will the relative lack of trees and decomposition of extra dead trees have an effect on our local climate or weather?

My answer: You do know the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is selling weed legally now, right? Along these lines, have you noticed the haze having an unusually pungent, maybe even skunky, smell to it?

Real answer: David Easterling, chief scientist at Future Climate, LLC, in Hendersonville, said the haze we’ve been seeing “is mainly due to smoke from Canadian wildfires being transported as far south as Georgia.”

Aha! Those dastardly Canadians at it again! More tariffs, I say!

Seriously, that smoke hitting our area is just dependent on weather patterns, nothing more.

Now, as far as Helene and downed trees affecting climate, Easterling said it’s “not likely to impact our weather, except that it does provide extra fuel for wildfires, which, of course, leads to increased smoke and haze.

“Areas that have been cleared of trees can impact the microclimate in those areas by changing the energy balance of those areas — e.g. more sunlight being reflected back out rather than being absorbed by the tree canopy,” Easterling said. “Also, if we were to get very heavy rainfall over a few days that could lead to mudslides and extra runoff in areas impacted by Helene.”

On a side note, you may recall Easterling’s name, as he’s answered a lot of questions for you folks over the years. He recently retired from the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville after a long run, but he’s obviously staying busy in the field, which is good for you readers, and myself, of course.

Enjoy the semi-retirement, Dave!

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Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/

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