A recovery and reinvestment act.

• Position: WESTERN REGION - Economic conditions - Brief article

Buncombe County's 8% growth in visitor spending last year --to about $901 million--was the largest percentage increase in the state, according to an annual study by Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Travel Association. Expect more of the same this year. Local tourism is benefiting from the steadily improving national economy, with more people able to afford visits to established Asheville attractions such as Grove Park Inn and Biltmore Estate and new ones including approximately 20 craft breweries. In July, the county's unemployment rate was 5.2%, compared with the state's 6.5%. "Tourism in Asheville has led the resurgence of the economy and job creation," says Stephanie Pace Brown, executive director of the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Though locals might bristle at downtown Asheville's...