What’s Next for Mayberry: A New Year and New Possibilities in Surry County, NC

Development plans anticipate promising tourism and real estate options for this longstanding rural hub.

Surry County North Carolina is an unassuming community at first glance but if you are lucky enough to connect with the people, you quickly learn about its unique history and its growing potential to serve as a prime location for regional business affairs and a notable tourist attraction for travelers. In its earliest days, Surry County operated as privately owned farmland used primarily for tobacco crops and later developed a solid economy in the textiles industry. One of its more well-known towns, Mount Airy, doubles as the town of Mayberry in the TV sitcom classic, The Andy Griffith Show, and is now home to the Andy Griffith Museum. Other towns in the county like Mount Airy have made a name for themselves by hosting popular events like Mayberry Days and the Autumn Leaves Festival as well as the Surry County Wine Trail.

Through the years, Surry County has exchanged its farming and manufacturing roots for an economy that is more fluid in its commerce activity and open to the innovative spaces of Tech and Transportation. In December 2021, federal government officials announced a budget highlighting the Airport Infrastructure Grant that includes $2.9 million in funding for the construction of a new terminal building at Mount Airy-Surry County Airport. Another budding possibility on the horizon is a newly constructed hotel in downtown Mount Airy. The upscale boutique design is sure to attract a more upwardly mobile crowd to this Southern destination that is centrally located from Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Charlotte.

With these promising opportunities in mind, I encourage anyone currently considering property investments to keep an eye out on Surry County when researching viable options. In an era where platforms such as Air BnB and Vrbo continue to attract more consumers and have steadily emerged as the norm for vacation rentals, timeshares continue to quietly hold steady as a means of maintaining long-term secondary properties and building equity. I would like to spend the rest of this article giving you a brief refresh on the benefits of timeshare investments and why Surry County is more than poised to be a top candidate to house this kind of transient community.

Timeshares are a popular buzzword in the world of tourism but let us start with a simple definition. A timeshare means shared ownership of a vacation product or program that is bound to deeded interest in a resort property, a set amount of vacation time, or points that can be used to cover travel costs associated with a given destination. They provide a pathway to owning vacation property affordably free of many of the responsibilities associated with private ownership. In terms of value, exchange is a major benefit to owning timeshares by giving the option of swapping destination locations meaning that the investment is transferrable.

With blockchain technology like Bitcoin and Ethereum continuing to shape the future of financial markets around the world, it is also worth noting that the first end-to-end crowdfunding service in the blockchain and real estate industry announced its launch of the world’s first community-powered and owned resort operated solely via nonfungible tokens, commonly referred to as NFTs. Thanks to NFTs, new investors will have the potential to work together to release property under one shared ownership ultimately helping to increase liquidity percentages. Though there is still much to be discovered in terms of blockchains and their full influence on the timeshare industry, it is an exciting time to learn more about what is bound to have a consequential impact.

In an underdeveloped area like Surry County, with the right funding support, there is a surplus of land available for erecting sustainable timeshare resorts for tourists to enjoy whether they are taking in the scenic views of Pilot Mountain and Fancy Gap throughout the year or visiting the new Surry County Arts Council multi-purpose facility currently under construction, set to feature a history museum along with classroom and exhibit spaces that can accommodate artist and scholar presentations.

Other cities in the region like Williamsburg, Va., and Sevierville, Tenn. have successfully leveraged their attractions to grow their tourism industry using timeshares as a focal aspect to drive consistent economic revenue. If they can do it so can Surry County, while also building partnerships with these neighboring communities to strengthen a regional network of support and best practices.

In 2022, I look forward to more updates from our local officials in terms of progress on funding development plans and building bridges with commercial developers to explore the art of the possible when it comes to real estate, tourism, and a new and improved Surry County.

What’s Next for Mayberry: A New Year and New Possibilities in Surry County, NC

About the author

Christopher G. Cox