Boone, North Carolina
Home of both Appalachian State University and the Appalachian Summer Festival and nicknamed the heart of high country, Boone is something of a focal point for North Carolina mountain culture and is the birthplace of many of the greatest bluegrass guitarists and Appalachian storytellers.
Named for pioneer Daniel Boone, who is said to have often camped in the area, Boone is a small town with 17,000 year-round inhabitants who are drawn to what US News and World Report named the best affordable mountain town in its list of the top 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012.
Boone’s meeting spaces keep with the scale of the town, best suited to groups of around 100.
“We have the basic chains, but they typically have 100 rooms at a given hotel, with meeting space to seat people theater style,” said Michelle Ligon, public relations director for the Boone and Watauga Country tourism development authorieties. “It’s important to keep in mind that there are no breakout rooms.”
What Boone may lack in variety of daytime meeting space, it makes up for in venues for evening receptions. Groups can negotiate buyouts of Tweetsie Railroad, one of the oldest theme parks in the country, with a Wild West-style town and saloon built in the middle of the winding track where some of the last remaining narrow-gauge steam locomotives in the country run.
Tweetsie is reopening April 11 after a renovation that is adding a challenge course for team-building events. Nearby Hawksnest Snow Tubing and Zipline and Sky Valley Resort and Country Club also have zip-line courses through the forest that are open year-round.
Greenville, South Carolina
Like Chapel Hill, Greenville is home to a diverse set of universities that make it well-rounded like a larger city but small enough to still be welcoming.
“If you have a group of any size at all, it will be a bigger deal than in many cities,” said Joseph Kramer, vice president of sales for Visit Greenville SC. “Downtown is a cross between Charleston and Pasadena, just the place if someone wants a destination with an incredible restaurant scene and a surprisingly small-town feel with a touch of Americana on the downtown Main Street.”
If you have a large group, the TD Convention Center, fresh off a $22 million renovation, includes 280,000 square feet of exhibit space and 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Downtown, the Hyatt Regency Greenville, which completed a total renovation in 2013, is the largest option, with 35,000 square feet of meeting space.
One of the best ways meeting groups can take advantage of big-city opportunities with small-town hospitality is through exclusive off-site events. The CVB can work with the private luxury community The Cliffs for groups to access seven exclusive golf courses or set up a private bike ride or wine tasting with local George Hincapie, a Tour de France record-setting cyclist who now runs the vineyard and villa-style resort Hotel Domestique.
