The word "Due" read from top-down and "South" left-right, with the U shared between them. Reminiscent of a compass.

Due South

Most of fall tourism spending in western North Carolina projected to be 'just lost' due to Helene

By Leoneda Inge,

Published October 21, 2024 at 10:04 AM EDT

Damage in Hot Springs in Madison County, along the French Broad River. Photo from Hot Springs Tourism and Welcome Center. — Damage in Hot Springs in Madison County, along the French Broad River.

Last year was a record-breaking year for tourism in North Carolina. But in the aftermath of Helene, fall tourism in western North Carolina is taking an enormous hit.

Co-host Leoneda Inge talks with the director of Visit NC, Wit Tuttell, about how big the impact may be, and how the industry is adapting since the storm.

Guest

Wit Tuttell, Director, Visit North Carolina

Tags

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

See stories by Leoneda Inge

Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

See stories by Rachel McCarthy