Sevier County’s economy still hurting from wildfires
Three months after fire damaged Gatlinburg and threatened Pigeon Forge, rebuilding is well underway as area officials work to assure tourists that their favorite attractions remain open and more are coming.
“Business has definitely been a little slow, but we’re optimistic that it won’t last forever,” said Kate Barido, director of sales and marketing for ski resort Ober Gatlinburg, which survived with minimal damage.
There was a little damage from high winds and smoke, and power surges
affected some equipment, but that was about it, Barido said. One concern was whether the fire had affected the popular tramway, which takes visitors on a 2-mile ride from downtown Gatlinburg to the mountaintop. People asked about it a lot, she said.
Ober Gatlinburg had the manufacturer perform extensive tests on all parts of the system, and found it was unaffected, Barido said.
The Chimney Tops 2 fire was reported Nov. 23 in a remote area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Driven and enlarged by “exceptional drought conditions and extreme winds,” according to the National Park Service, it reached Gatlinburg on Nov. 28, leading to a citywide evacuation.
The fire burned more than 17,000 acres, killing 14 people and leaving hundreds homeless. It destroyed more than 2,400 structures in Sevier County, many of them cabins in the forested hills. But Gatlinburg’s commercial strip survived largely intact, and the fire got no further than the outskirts of Pigeon Forge.
While aid poured in, officials said the best way to help was for visitors to pump money into the tourism-driven Sevier County economy, providing jobs for locals and supporting area businesses.
Early indications are that businesses are hurting, though how much depends on the type. Lodging has suffered the most.
Sevier County’s hotel/ motel tax receipts were down 12.6 percent in December 2016 compared
with the same month the year before, according to Perrin Anderson, Sevier County communications coordinator.
County sales taxes, however, were up 1.9 percent in December over the previous year. But the county will lose a lot of money from property taxes, a major source of revenue, due to the many buildings destroyed, Anderson wrote in an email.
“The county is proposing to refund 1/12 of the property tax to both residents and businesses whose buildings were destroyed,” he wrote.
Each city in Sevier County has its own marketing and recovery plan, but they are combining voices on the collective “We’re open for business” message, said Mary Hope Maples, executive director of the Smoky Mountain Tourism and Development Council.