MAGGIE VALLEY – Ghost Town in the Sky has a new leader, and he plans to make some changes at the Wild West theme park.

Kevin Bailey, named this week as the park’s general manager, promises that next year’s visitors can expect to find more restaurants and shows by big names in bluegrass, gospel and country music.

Bailey, 39, former assistant general manager at Ghost Town, replaces Bob Cordier, who has accepted a position as general manager of a water park in Destin, Fla. Bailey’s experience includes a five-year stint at Tweetsie Railroad near Blowing Rock.

“The biggest challenge for Ghost Town is to fully open the park,” Bailey said.

A new ownership group reopened Ghost Town, which had been closed since 2003, on May 25. Before that, workers had about 6 months to make repairs and meet state inspection standards at the theme park, which was built in the 1960s.

Three major attractions — a small train that circles the park, the roller coaster and incline rail — couldn’t be fixed in time for this season, which will end late this month or in early November.

Ghost Town economics

Despite some bobbles — which included other rides not working on opening day and a lightning strike to the chairlift some two months later that left visitors temporarily stranded — Bailey and David King, the park’s sales and marketing manager, characterized the opening season as a success.

“It was definitely a learning year,” King said. “But the ownership is very pleased — it exceeded their expectations.”

Measuring the theme park’s success independently is difficult because Ghost Town declined to release visitation or financial numbers. King did say that 16,000 tickets alone were sold through a program in which about 80 hotels, motels, real estate offices and other companies sold Ghost Town passes at a discounted rate.

“It was astonishing,” King said.

The Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce reported a 40 percent increase in visitors this summer over last year, and Executive Director Lynn Collins said Tuesday that hotel and motel association members reported 20-40 percent increases.

“It has been a really good summer,” she said. “Our numbers in the valley are up considerably. I think, for the most part, Ghost Town has met everyone’s expectations.”

Richard Boris, owner of Maggie Country Store, a gift shop featuring leather goods and crafts, said Ghost Town has fulfilled another critical role: Families — and not just retirees — are now shopping and staying overnight in the tourism-dependent town, he said.

“We’ve picked up a whole new generation,” said Boris, who also operates a campground behind his store on Soco Road.

Tom Stratton, owner of Rocky Waters Motel, which is within walking distance of the theme park, agreed.

“It seems like it is back to what it used to be,” he said.

In its heyday, Ghost Town had up to 10,000 visitors a day. Cordier said in previous interviews that 200,000 people were expected to visit Ghost Town this season.

What’s next?

King and Bailey said that the winter would give them time to do some planning, a critical element that was in short supply this year.

Entertainment will be lined up ahead of time, King said, and the park plans to target marketing areas that showed promise this season. These include attracting more groups such as churches, continuing to offer coupons and selling more season passes.

Bailey said a couple of new rides would be added in 2008, but he declined to identify what they would be. The new general manager also said the 650-seat country music hall in Ghost Town will open, allowing the theme park to bring in more entertainment.

From a marketing standpoint, King said, growth is vital to the theme park’s future success.

“We do need to keep things fresh to add more excitement and keep the buzz,” he said.