DECEMBER 17, 2009 ISSUE
High Country Host Opens Doors for Holiday Party
Millie Barbee, executive director of High Country Host, stands beside a wreath during the organization’s holiday party, which took place on Tuesday, December 8. Photo by Corinne Saunders
A holiday party given by High Country Host took place at the Visitors Center in Boone on Tuesday, December 8.
“It began with an executive board meeting,” said Millie Barbee, executive director. “We have had a steady flow of visitors and [local] people stop in to wish us well.”
The party featured a spread of food, donated by High Country Host members, and donated door prizes, with drawings held every half hour throughout the day. The public was invited to attend, meet the staff and learn about the organization.
“It’s been great fun,” Barbee said, adding that since she began her second term as executive director in October, many people have stepped in, called and emailed her.
“I’m excited to be back,” she said. “It’s a great organization. It has a lot of history behind it and [great potential] for moving forward.”
Created on the heels of the gas crisis of the late 1970s, High Country Host formed in the early 1980s as the first regional host group in the state, bringing together tourism-related organizations in a six-county region to pool their resources and market the area as the “High Country.”
The organization’s members include restaurants, attractions, lodging, shops and more—“everything that serves the needs of visitors that come to the High Country,” Barbee said.
In the six-county region, the chambers of commerce, tourism development authorities (TDAs) and the Host “collaborate and cooperate,” Barbee said, to bring visitors to the area and provide them with all the information they need to make the trip a success.
A major part of the co-op marketing is a visitor guide, published annually, that is available at the Host, at travel offices and chambers of commerce across the state, or can be mailed out, Barbee said.
The guide helps people plan their visit around the unique offerings of each of the six counties, she added.
Barbee attributes the success of the Host to the area’s “natural scenic beauty, which is a major focus of tourism in the region” and also in part to people’s need for “the human touch.”
Even with the plethora of information available online, she said many people still call, and will leave a message after hours for someone to call them back because they want to talk to “a human voice who knows the area,” she said.
And that is fine with Barbee, because “the number one thing I believe in so totally is customer service,” she said.
High Country Host will also launch a new marketing initiative in 2010 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the 30th year of High Country Host, Barbee said.
Loeffler Ketchum Mountjoy (LKM), the state tourism marketing firm, is “creating some ads for us to run,” said Cathy Robbins, marketing director of Tweetsie Railroad and head of the marketing committee for the initiative. “LKM is working on that now.”
The new initiative involves an ad and radio presence that will be primarily focused in the Southeast, geared toward bringing more visitors to the High Country, she added.
“With the economy the way it is, the way everyone has come together to promote our area is nice to see,” Robbins said. “It’s nice to see cooperation between all the partners in this initiative.”
The marketing initiative for the organization is unprecedented in its scope, Robbins said.
Partnerships are a major focus of the Host, Barbee said, adding that along with chambers of commerce, TDAs and private members, the Host works closely with the Blue Ridge Natural Heritage Area, Advantage West—an economic development group serving Western North Carolina—and the High Country Council of Governments.
“We benefit so much when we work together,” she said. “Our mission is to promote the High Country [and] bring folks to the area. I’m very excited to move into the future. Every challenge offers great opportunities and makes people more creative.”
The Host’s recently launched new website, www.mountainsofnc.org, features color schemes that change four times per year, with the seasons, said Boomer Sassmann, digital technology director of Big Boom Design, which created the Host’s website.
The website focuses on search engine optimization and incorporates Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, live weather and the Host’s blog into the site, he said.
For more information on the website, click to www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2009/11-12-09/local-tourism-agencies.htm.
For more information about the Host, click to www.mountainsofnc.org.
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