After some Spurts Earlier this year, it’s safe to say that South Carolina’s tourism industry – a major driver of employment, income, and sales growth in Palmetto State – is on the rise again Ignition on all cylinders. A strong one start The 2021 summer season has given way to sustained expansion – meaning the industry is well positioned to exceed expectations as it continues to grow from a. recovered disastrous 2020.

But if this recovery picks up speed in the midsummer months, is a massive increase in taxpayers’ money really necessary for so-called “tourism marketing” efforts? Or in a nutshell: Was this expenditure ever really necessary?

Or, the latest numbers prove something I’ve been saying for years: that tourism is committed to broader macroeconomic trends … which means that efforts by state and local governments to channel taxpayers’ money into certain destination marketing campaigns don’t put the needle in one Move direction or the other.

Even if such campaigns were able to defy broader gravitational trends in the national economy … are they fair to taxpayers?

Or should the companies that benefit directly from such marketing expenses take responsibility for subsidizing them? Sure, a rising tide lifts all boats … but since when has it been the government’s job to subsidize marketing for one industry over another?

But before we get into all of that, let’s look at the data …

The week ending June 26, 2021 was according to the latest figures from the SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT).

Hotel sales per available room – or “RevPAR”, an important industry measure – synchronized $ 126.10 for the week. That was impressive 79.5 percent Increase from the corresponding week in 2020, but even more important was this metric 19.2 percent higher than the same week in 2019.

And while RevPAR still lags behind 2019 year-on-year 8.9 percent – this gap is closing further.

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(Via: SCPRT)

In addition to positive RevPAR data, hotel occupancy rates in South Carolina also continued to show robust growth. In the last full week of June, 78 percent the hotel rooms were occupied – up 37.3 percent from one year 3.2 percent from the corresponding week in 2019.

For comparison: national and regional occupancy rates (69.9 percent and 71.6 percent) continued to lag behind the 2019 level. Occupancy rates declined across the country 7.4 percent from the same week two years ago when they were regionally down 4.8 percent.

Hotel occupancy in South Carolina has been falling since the beginning of the year 10.1 percent from where it was two years ago … but as with RevPAR, this gap closes.

As I’ve pointed out many times before, an accurate assessment of the health of the tourism industry requires that we compare the current data to 2019, the last “normal” year on record … so I’m glad SCPRT answered my call to publish these comparisons.

In addition to publishing updated hotel RevPAR and occupancy data, SCPRT also published data from Golf Datatech last week saw a large increase in the total number of rounds of golf played in Palmetto State. For the month of May, the total number of rounds played increased 26.1 percent from the same month in 2020, while the increase since the beginning of the year was 28.1 percent, according to the information.

In this case, however, no comparative data for 2019 was immediately available …

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(SCPRT via Golf Datatech)

While it’s good to see the golf industry recovering, these numbers underscore South Carolina’s over-reliance on this particular sector of the tourism industry – part of a broader one don’t diversify. In fact, I have preached about the need for the palmetto state to “Golf Buddy Weekend”Destination from 2016.

I have also repeatedly called on state and local politicians to lower taxes, clean up our beaches, protect our history and reorientation towards public safety as a core function of the state (especially in Charleston and Myrtle Beachwhere violence was rampant last year).

With the exception of a modest expansion of law enforcement resources in Myrtle Beach, sponsored by the city’s mayor Brenda Bethune, these calls went unnoticed.

During the violence in South Carolina ascending …

While central government functions are neglected, notoriously corrupt Subsidizing destination marketing is increasing under the guise of an industry-wide recovery.

In the state budget year that began last Thursday (July 1, 2021), taxpayers have to shell out $ 15 million in additional “target-specific marketing grants for the recreation of tourism” and $ 5 million for additional “nationwide tourism advertising”. In addition, the state legislators approved a $ 600,000 grant and $ 500,000 in annually recurring funds to support a regional tourism advocacy group.

Given the above-mentioned failure of such investments to generate a return on investment, they might as well have flushed every penny of that money down the toilet …

SCPRT director Duane Parrish praised “republican”State legislature – and GOP governor Henry McMaster – for the “unprecedented support to the tourism industry” and the promise to use the new resources to “innovate and benefit from the dynamism of our recreation”.

But let’s call this money what it is … more unnecessary expenses That won’t move the needle one way or the other.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Via: FITSNews)

Become people is the founding editor of the news agency you are reading right now. Prior to founding FITSNews, he was the South Carolina governor’s press secretary and prior to that he was the bass player and bouncer at the dive bar. He lives in the state’s Midlands with his wife and seven children. And yes, he has LOTS of hats (including the Carolina Mudcats lid pictured above).

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