South Carolina tourism up however nonetheless struggling for staff

As more people travel, one of the biggest challenges hotels face is hiring enough housekeepers.

COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina travel is on the rise.

This after a year in which little to no trips were made due to the coronavirus.

The rise in tourism is due to the state continuing to fight labor shortages in the leisure and hotel industries.

“It was called ‘Travel Revenge’,” said Marcus Munse, owner of Hotel Trundle in Columbia, who said May was the first month to get back to normal business.

According to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT), From May 23-29, South Carolina hotels were 67.8% booked. That is 4% more than in 2019.

Dr. Drew Martin, a professor at the USC School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, says that not only are more people making travel plans, but they’re also taking those trips sooner.

“We have a lot of driving holidays right now,” said Martin. “I think that’s probably a function of the travel bans being lifted and people just saying, ‘Let’s go right now!'”

As the tourism industry picks up, restaurants and hotels are still fighting for workers.

“Every summer there is a fire drill to recruit enough people,” said Martin. “Some people who work in the hospitality or tourism industries have moved elsewhere or work in retail. They can make four, five, six dollars an hour more and get benefits.”

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics found that South Carolina was in April this year 36,000 fewer employees in the leisure and hotel industry compared to April 2019.

Martin, who helped put together interviews with local hotel managers, says the biggest challenge right now is finding housekeepers.

The Hotel Trundle, for example, has 41 rooms. Munse says if he had enough workers to clean the rooms he could sell them all.

“I would say that 80% of the interviews I’ve organized just don’t show up,” said Munse. “You don’t even come to the interview.”

Munse says a lack of housekeepers caused them to lose money. He says the rooms can’t be cleaned fast enough.

“We had many days when we just had to close rooms because we couldn’t sell them,” he explained. “We had to roll them up the next day until we could clean them the next day because we could only clean so many every day. That hurt us financially, as some income was lost there. “

During the pandemic, many hotels moved away from daily cleaning to ensure visitors and staff had their own space.

“If you stay for at least four days, we offer to clean once during this time,” said Munse.

Despite the easing of restrictions, some hotels are considering maintaining this practice.

“One thing I’ve heard from some of the brands, the bigger brands like Marriott-Hilton and guys like that, is that they may be considering charging their guests now if they want their room cleaned during their stay – like the first day clean, “said Munse.

Last week the Hotel Trundle hired three housekeepers. Munse predicts they will return for daily housekeeping in August or September.

Other changes in hotel operations include the return of the valet service to the regular timetable, single-serve wine as a welcome drink and the abolition of the breakfast buffet. The Hotel Trundle instead works with the Sandwich Depot across the street to prepare a cooked-to-order breakfast for all guests, which is sealed and delivered to the rooms.

“I don’t know if anyone’s doing buffets again,” said Munse.

According to the SCPRT, tourism is a $ 23.8 billion industry in South Carolina that supports one in ten jobs and generates $ 1.8 billion in state and local taxes.