Commentary: SC journey and tourism business nonetheless wants assist | Commentary

With more Americans being vaccinated, there is finally hope that a real recovery in the devastated US economy and workforce is in sight. One industry of particular concern to South Carolina and the Lowcountry has been by far the hardest hit and requires creative measures to recover: travel and tourism.

Fortunately, counties of Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester have built diversified economies over the past decade. Even in the context of this impressive development, tourism remains a decisive economic engine. In 2019, travel in our region had an economic impact of $ 9.7 billion, directly employed 40,000 residents, and accounted for more than 20% of all sales.

The Charleston area’s tourism industry enjoyed incredible momentum as of 2020. Then everything changed. COVID dropped the floor out of the U.S. tourism economy almost overnight. Nationwide spending on travel and tourism fell by half a trillion dollars last year – ten times the impact of September 11th. While other industries are slowly recovering, the leisure and hospitality sectors account for nearly 40% of total unemployment in the US. Local hospitality and leisure unemployment tops 25%, three times as much as any other sector in the Charleston area.

It is far from clear when the travel industry trend, which is lagging behind the general economic recovery, can reverse on its own. In our region, this is of particular concern for those who rely on business travel, groups and events.

Helen Hill

Michael Tall

One thing that has become apparent over the past year is that so many industries and businesses in the Charleston area depend on, or at least are influenced by, the visitor industry. With Washington determined to provide aid until the economy can move on its own – as demonstrated by the $ 1.9 trillion aid package passed by Congress and signed last week by President Joe Biden – it makes sense to to provide targeted assistance to parts of the economy that have the greatest needs and are most important to general recovery. Travel and tourism, which supported the employment of 1 in 10 Americans prior to the pandemic, should certainly be high on this list.

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Because of this, our industry has sought a non-partisan law called the Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act, which was recently introduced in both houses of Congress.

The legislation includes the kind of smart, targeted tax incentives that would expedite a travel recovery: a temporary corporate tax credit to revitalize business meetings, conferences, and conventions; an individual tax credit to stimulate non-business travel; a temporary deduction for entertainment business expenses to aid the recovery of entertainment venues and performing arts centers; and tax breaks for restaurants and food and beverage companies to help restore jobs in the food service and strengthen the entire American food supply chain.

The bill’s original sponsors include both Democrats and Republicans from across the country, including US Representative Tom Rice, a Republican who represents much of the South Carolina coast north of the Santee River.

We support these efforts for the benefit of their efforts to restore business and group travel, incentivize vacation visits, rebuild local jobs, and promote the general recovery of our community from pandemics.

COVID has presented our industry and our entire society with the greatest challenge in recent times. However, a general recovery in the economy and jobs will only be possible with a robust recovery in travel. We appreciate the support and actions of our elected officials to date and encourage them to consider all available options in the future to expedite the turnaround of this cornerstone industry.

Helen Hill is the CEO of Explore Charleston (also known as the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau). Michael Tall is the chairman of the Explore Charleston Board of Governors.