VOLUME 14 NUMBER 16 ■ COLUMBIABUSINESSREPORT.COM
Holiday spirit
Vista Lights celebration returns to full format. Page 2
Part of the
network
NOVEMBER 8-21, 2021 ■ $2.25
SERVICE IN THE
STORM Difference makers
Experts see reason for optimism in evolving hospitality industry
Business Report to honor 22 Women of Influence. Page 8
Full steam ahead
Infrastructure investments pay off for SC Ports. Page 10
Industry in focus S.C. trying to increase filmmaking appeal. Page 19
The McCutchen House, which provides fine dining and hands-on traning at the University of South Carolina, opened to the public in September for the first time since 2019. (Photo/Melinda Waldrop)
By Melinda Waldrop
INSIDE
Upfront................................. 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 In Focus: Hospitality and Tourism.............................. 13 List: Hotels with Meeting Facilities............................. 15 At Work............................... 21 Viewpoint............................23
W
mwaldrop@scbiznews.com
hile the initial surge that lifted S.C.’s hospitality and tourism industry when businesses reopened after pandemic-related closures has abated somewhat, experts agree that reasons for optimism remain for the economic sector that brought a record-breaking $28.3 billion to the state in 2020. Scott Smith, associate professor and graduate program director at the University of South Carolina’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, said that a combination of pent-up demand and shored-up finances drove record business at hotels and resorts when stricter quarantine measures were first lifted. “The bottom dropped out at the very beginning, just really everyone
Historic hire
was suffering, and then we started coming back,” Smith said. “Every month, it got progressively better. … Resorts that had laid off staff weren’t prepared. They cut staff and they didn’t plan for the comeback. When things bounced back in March, April and May, a lot of problems were because of staffing, and still are. That just made the resorts and the hotels that were prepared even better off.” According to the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Hotel Revenue Per Available Room, or RevPAR, for the week ending Oct. 23 was $80.92, up 67.3% from the same week in 2020 and up 9.9% from the same time in 2019. As of Oct. 23, year-to-date RevPAR was 73.7% above the same period in 2020 and 2.7% above the same time in 2019.
Barbara Melvin to become first female CEO of SC Ports Authority. Page 9
See HOSPITALITY, Page 14