Tourism had an estimated $10.62 billion economic impact on the Charleston region in 2021, the first year it has topped $10 billion, according to a new analysis from the College of Charleston’s Office of Tourism Analysis, The Post and Courier reported.
That is about $4.5 billion more than in 2020, when the pandemic hit hospitality hardest, and nearly $1 billion above the previous record, set in 2019.
The region drew 7.23 million visitors last year, slightly fewer than before the pandemic but up from slightly more than 5 million in 2020. Each visitor spent more.
Total spending per adult per trip averaged $962, up from $779 in 2020 and $878 before the pandemic, the analysis found. Hotel room rates hit records: the average daily rate was $167, compared with $155 in 2019 and $123 in 2020. Visitors spent an average of $456 on lodging and $220 per person on dining.
Air travel drove much of the gain. Charleston International Airport handled nearly 4.2 million arriving and departing passengers, about 2.2 million more than in 2020.
“Air travelers are high-value visitors,” said Daniel Guttentag, director of the tourism analysis office.
Helen Hill, CEO of Explore Charleston, the region’s main tourism marketing agency, said the agency focuses more on the spending and tax revenue tourism generates than on visitor counts.
“We don’t judge our success on the number of visitors,” Hill said.
The record came despite a thin spring. The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition and the Charleston Wine + Food festival both took 2021 off.
Jobs are still catching up. Tourism employment averaged 46,200 last year, up from 41,100 in 2020 but short of almost 51,000 in 2019. Guttentag said business was still slow early in 2021, and when activity picked up over the summer, hotels and restaurants struggled to fill openings.
He expects 2022 to be the “first year back to real normalcy.” Hotels started the season strong in February, and group and conference travel is beginning to return, the newspaper reported.
