Some tourist favorites will reopen in Asheville by the holidays, others focus on rebuilding WSOC TV [Video]

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — This time of year is a major economic driver for western North Carolina, tourism brought in $3 billion last year to Asheville alone. But while some popular areas have reopened, others are still working to recover from a devastating storm.

Before Hurricane Helene hit, many small businesses were in holiday planning mode.

“Like the week after Halloween, we were actually discussing getting Christmas put up, like all of the shops in the area, just so that we could start encouraging welcoming Christmas earlier,” said Anna Rowley with the Lilly Pulitzer shop.

Rowley’s store is in the Biltmore Village, which was hit hard when Helene swept through the area in September.

“I never would have imagined that it would be this bad, the bottom of the Swannanoa River is coating all of the village,” Rowley told Channel 9′s Jonathan Lowe. “It’s like the topography of this area is …