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Sweet Success for Sugar: TDA Announces New Tourism Website & Marketing Now Online

A new 75-page website (www.SeeSugar.com) for the Village of Sugar Mountain features plenty of things to do in the High Country for both visitors and locals. It’s just one component of a 6-month successful marketing campaign that kicked off in May by the Sugar Mountain Tourism Development Authority.

The website, written in a helpful travel guide style, inspires trips to Sugar Mountain during all four seasons. Find photo guides for village attractions including golf, tennis and winter sports, as well as events such as the Fine Art & Master Crafts Show and Oktoberfest. To encourage longer stays on the mountain, website readers also discover things to do within a 20-mile radius including hiking, waterfalls, dining, shopping and Blue Ridge Parkway. A special “Top 10 Things to Do with Social Distancing” was added.

Website traffic has increased tenfold since April. During October, the website had 32,000+ visits from 74 countries – thanks in part to a special fall section. The revamped See Sugar Facebook page reached more than 400,000 people in October thanks to timely fall color updates that were shared by many readers and picked up by a variety of media outlets.

The Village Hall section (https://seesugar.com/village) includes resources for residents and property owners, including a new section with relocation FAQs.

The Sugar Mountain Tourism Development Authority board members initiated this marketing plan in response to local tourism businesses losing customers due to the pandemic. Components of the plan included research & strategy, website rebuild, social media engagement, photography library, regional partnerships and media relations. More than 100 Avery County businesses are featured on the website at no cost.

The TDA partnered with regional and statewide tourism organizations for multiple promotional initiatives – including Avery Chamber, High Country Host, Blue Ridge Parkway Association and Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. The TDA also took advantage of the resources of VisitNC, the tourism marketing organization at the NC Department of Commerce, to reach millions of their followers.

The Village of Sugar Mountain tourism marketing plan was built and managed by an Avery County tourism consultant. A new winter campaign is underway, followed by a spring promotion in early 2021. For questions, contact Mary Kate Litchfield, the Sugar Mountain Tourism Development Authority Coordinator at Village Hall.

Go to their website: www.SeeSugar.com