Empowering Nature's Potential to Increase Income in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Bryson City NC

Naomi, May; Sarah, Jessie

ABSTRACT: Efforts to increase tourism income in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are by exploiting its natural potential. Empowering natural potential through sustainable management of existing potential, namely processing it into a tourist attraction, is expected to increase city income which will automatically increase community income. The concept of empowering natural potential to become a tourist attraction with sustainable management is the basis for community service activities carried out at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Bryson City NC. The activity began with a survey of the location to identify and verify the natural potential in the city, namely the existence of mountains which are the mainstay potential of the tourist city, then continued with focus group discussion activities and closed with training activities for the community in Bryson City consisting of tourism awareness groups. as well as city residents who will be involved in managing the Smoky Mountains as a tourist attraction. For sustainable management, in the future, it is targeted that there will be sustainable synergy between the government and the tourist city of Bryson in assisting the management of the Smoky Mountains as a tourist attraction as well as managing homestays as supporting tourist destinations in Bryson City.