Haywood tourism board loses experience, gains fresh faces
Three new members have been appointed to the tourism board in Haywood County that guides tourism marketing, promotions and development.
The recent round of appointments to the Tourism Development Authority continues a changing of the guard on the tourism board that’s been playing out for two years now. Of the 12-member board, eight have been appointed in the last two years.
Turnover on the tourism board is the fallout from a new rule that limits how long members can serve.
“We are just now starting to feel the effects of that,” said TDA Executive Director Lynn Collins.
Board members can only serve six years before they have to step down, ensuring an injection of new blood and new ideas.
But coupled with naturally occurring turnover — those who step down because they get too busy, move or retire from the industry — the tourism board is now stacked with relatively new members.
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Collins said the change has its pros and cons. There are new ideas and perspectives on one hand, but a lack of continuity and institutional knowledge on the other.
“We are all the old school that was on the board,” said Ken Stahl, a Waynesville hotelier who had been a workhorse on the tourism board for almost three decades but has now been sidelined.
It can also be hard to recruit board members to fill the seats, making it hard to lose dedicated, long-time board members forced off by the new term limit rule.
The Haywood TDA oversees more than $1.2 million annually collected through a 4 percent tax on overnight lodging, which is then pumped back in to tourism marketing and initiatives.
The recent round of newly appointed tourism board members include:
· Sally Eason, owner of Sunburst Trout Farm, appointed as the town of Waynesville representative on the board. She replaced Stahl who was bumped off by term limits.
· Carole Edwards, a Canton town board member, appointed as the Canton representative on the board. She replaced Canton Mayor Mike Ray, who stepped down voluntarily due to time constraints.
· Chris Corbin, director of rooms at The Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa, appointed by the county commissioners. He was the only one who applied for a seat vacated by Sammy Carver, owner of the Waynesville Inn, who was bumped off by term limits.
· A fourth seat held by Beth Brown of Maggie Valley was also up for appointment, but she had only served three years and was eligible for three more. County commissioners did not consider any other applicants for the seat and reappointed Brown for another term.
— By Staff Writer Becky Johnson
