Hotels in South Carolina had an advantage over the national average in the busy spring and summer months of 2021 as accommodations across the country sought to meet pent-up travel needs and make up for losses from the previous year.
2020 was the worst year on record for US hotels, according to the property tracking company STR.
Hotels in Palmetto State were hit hard by COVID-19 in 2020, but overall they did not fare as badly as accommodations in the United States. Hotel occupancy was 44 percent nationwide that year, and revenue per room was down 46 percent year over year.
In South Carolina, occupancy was slightly higher at 45.4 percent and revenue per room fell slightly less, 40 percent, according to reports from the company SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
From the start of the pandemic through the end of 2020, South Carolina hotel statistics exceeded the US average every month.
That wasn’t the case in 2021, when the U.S. overtook South Carolina in some of the state’s slower months, January and February, and slightly overtook Palmetto state’s numbers in the fall.
But differences between the US averages and South Carolina’s numbers during the busiest months – especially spring – show how quickly the state has recovered.
From March through August, South Carolina outperformed the United States in terms of occupancy and room rates. The state’s head start was greatest in April, when South Carolina hotels occupied about 68 percent of their rooms, up from 58 percent in the US. Revenue per room in South Carolina for that month was also more than $ 20 above US value.
Before the 2019 pandemic, South Carolina also outperformed the U.S. average in April, but not as much. Occupancy was only a few percentage points higher and the revenue difference per room was about $ 1.
The busiest month in 2021 for hotels in South Carolina and the United States as a whole was July, when occupancy in the state was nearly 75 percent. The US rate was not far behind at 70 percent. Revenue per room averaged more than $ 130 in South Carolina and nearly $ 100 across the country.
And while South Carolina has lagged the US average in a few months, its longer-term calculations outperform the statewide numbers.
In the first 11 months of 2021 – the latest data available – South Carolina had an average occupancy rate of about 61 percent, compared to 58 percent in the US, according to STR. Revenue per room for the state was $ 7.55 above the national average for the period.
Hotels no longer fill as many rooms as they did before the pandemic. In mid-December, the average hotel occupancy in South Carolina was around 5 percent below the 2019 values.
However, hotels are charging more than they were before COVID-19 so they can make up for losses.
From January 1 to December 18, the average hotel revenue per room in South Carolina was $ 77.88, compared to $ 44.82 for the same period in 2020, an increase of 74 percent year over year , but is also an improvement over pre-pandemic rates. Revenue per room in the state for the same period in 2019 was $ 74.87, or about 4 percent lower.
This trend of hotels charging higher prices than before the pandemic was also observed in the US.
In the week ending December 18, the average price of a hotel room in the United States rose 11.6 percent compared to the same week in 2019.
STR attributed the increase in room prices to the focus on leisure travel and the need to catch up on vacation.
Short-term rentals, which thrived in 2020 despite the hotel suffering, continued to see growth in South Carolina. For the first 11 months of 2021 vacation rentals like those listed on the websites Airbnb and Vrbo 27 percent more overnight stays booked than in 2019.
Likewise, the turnover per rental increases by around a quarter.
Another 2020 outlier, South Carolina state parks, continues to show growth as well.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, Parks earned a record $ 45 million. From the beginning of the current fiscal year on July 1 through November 30, state parks reported revenue of nearly $ 25 million, with more than half of the fiscal year outstanding.
Golf, another industry that benefited from a shift to outdoor activities during the pandemic, also saw growth in 2021, even compared to record numbers in 2020. Rounds played in Palmetto State through November increased by 12 in 2021, according to data , 3 percent Golf Datatech.
