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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau says tourism in Charleston saw recovery and growth over this summer.
Charleston Director of Communications and Strategic Planning Chris Campbell says that across Charleston County, hotel occupancy far eclipsed what they saw in 2020.
He adds that for most part, hotel occupancy for June and July was back to pre-pandemic levels.
Campbell says vacation rentals in beach communities also performed extremely well, with occupancy way ahead of 2019.
According to the Charleston Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau which tracks hotel occupancy for the entire county, the occupancy rate for hotels across Charleston County was 79% for June and July of 2021.
That’s compared to 48% last summer in 2020, and 80% occupancy in June and July of 2019, before the pandemic.
Campbell says this indicates that overall leisure demand remains strong as we approach the Labor Day weekend.
However, he says the increase in COVID-19 cases and the growing concern over the Delta Variant is beginning to influence traveler sentiment nationally.
Campbell adds that Charleston County has started to see a negative impact on travel inquiries for future group meetings as people have expressed concern over how long the spike in cases will persist.
He says they will not be able to release August travel data until after this holiday weekend.
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