Eastern Cherokees rents billboard to promote tourist route (

Wednesday, April 25, 2012  

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is renting a billboard to promote an alternate way to get to the reservation in North Carolina.

The official state highway sign only offers one route that some people say winds too much and moves too slowly. So the tribe is giving tourists two options to get to Cherokee.

“This is for the benefit of everybody,” Robert Jumper, the head of Cherokee Travel and Tourism, told The Smoky Mountain News. “Cherokee is going to provide a billboard that provides the customer with a choice.”

Once people get to the reservation, Jumper said the tribe can redirect tourists through the "official" route to offer them a more scenic view.

Get the Story:
Two signs to Cherokee after all: Tribe rents billboard (The Smoky Mountain News 4/25)