[at-l] National Geographic Calls GSNP "Ugliest"

[janl2 at mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

NC Says See Smokies From Their Side After National Geographic Calls 
GSNP "Ugliest"
smokymountain news


The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was dealt a blow by an 
international panel of tourism experts who ranked 115 destinations 
worldwide for a March article in National Geographic Traveler.

Of the three categories ? ?The Good,? ?Not So Bad,? and ?Getting Ugly? 
? the Smokies ranked near the bottom in the ?Getting Ugly? category. 
Towns such as Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge cloud visitors? natural and 
cultural experience and encroach on the park?s ecosystem, the experts 
said.

Visitors interviewed in the park last week seemed to agree that the 
Tennessee side of the park is too gaudy. The wax museum, chair lift, 
sky needle and fudge and cotton candy shops of Gatlinburg were not the 
reason they visited the Smokies. In fact, it was a turn-off.

?I don?t like it. I?ll tell you the truth,? said Paul Johnson, a 
visitor from Houston, Texas. ?It?s too commercial. There?s nowhere to 
park. It isn?t tourist-friendly.?

?The forest is just stunning,? he said. But next time, Johnson said he 
will take the bypass around Gatlinburg and try Pigeon Forge. When 
asked if he considered the North Carolina side of the park, Johnson 
grew puzzled. While he?d heard you could get into the park from North 
Carolina, he wasn?t sure how or where.

Meanwhile, business owners on the North Carolina side of the Smokies 
are pulling their hair out trying to lure more park visitors, pitching 
their towns as the antithesis of the amusement park motif of Gatlinburg.

?We need to emphasize this is the greener side of the park,? said Kent 
Stewart, owner of Waynesville Book Company.

http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/05_04/05_12_04/fr_smokies_ugly.html
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