Hospitality looks inward in aftermath of Sept. 11.

• Position: Travel/Tourism

To Paraphrase Hesiod, one of those Greeks who managed to say all the obvious stuff, timing is everything. So it was for the North Carolina beaches in 2001. Two incidents that together might have hurt coastal tourism came late enough in the year to cause hardly a ripple. On Labor Day weekend, a shark killed a swimmer and maimed his girlfriend -- it was the first fatal shark attack here in 44 years. Then, a week later, came Sept. 11.

The shark attack did make swimmers jittery for a few days but didn't keep them out of the water, says Carolyn McCormick, executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. "We didn't have as large a fallout as we expected." Plus, by then, coastal rentals were already up nearly 11% over 2000, which was also a good year.

McCormick, who, of course, is paid to promote the coast, says the terrorist attacks may have even helped drive visitors to North Carolina. "We're perceived as relatively safe," she says. "We don't have neon, and we don't have large crowds. That's what people are looking for right now." That's likely why bookings for next year were up 60% by late November over the same period in 2000.

"People still want to take family vacations," says Chris Cavanaugh, vice president of marketing for Biltmore Estate in Asheville. But they don't want to fly or travel as far from home. "The last couple of years, the economy was almost too good. People were planning trips to Europe, even weekend trips to Europe, and to farther-out places." Biltmore's admissions were off about 3% through the first five months of the year, Cavanaugh says. That prompted a change in strategy. The estate beefed up advertising and focused on nearby markets.

Like McCormick, Cavanaugh saw an upturn in business after Sept. 11. "We benefited because we do rely so heavily on drive traffic. People view this area as a safe destination." As a result, through the end of November, the estate had about the same number of visitors as in 2000, despite the poor start. "We've had a good Christmas season so far. We're up about 3% vs. last November. It's interesting. We began Christmas on Nov. 6, the same date as usual, but it's taken people a little longer this year to get into the Christmas spirit."

However, the aftermath of the terrorist attacks hit some resorts hard. Greg Anderson, executive vice president of marketing and sales for The Pinehurst Co., a subsidiary of Dallas-based ClubCorp. which owns and operates the Pinehurst resort, says business...