Local hotels, restaurants profit from January political activity

The debate and other events that led up to the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina last month created their own economic stimulus package: The GOP political extravaganza that culminated with the Jan. 21 vote helped boost occupancy at Charleston County hotels by 7.8 percent last month, new figures show.

About 18,000 more room nights were sold in January compared to the same month last year, according to the College of Charleston's Office of Tourism Analysis.

"A good portion of it was due to the primary," said research analyst Kevin Smith, who prepared the monthly report. "Some of it might have been due to pent-up vacation demand."

January is typically one of the slowest months for the local lodging industry.

Hotels in the county reported average occupancy of 53.1 percent, Usually the figure falls below the 50 percent mark for the first month of the year.

At one point in the two weeks leading to the GOP primary, occupancy surged 17.6 percent as candidates, staffers and the national media poured into the region for multiple-day stays, Smith said. Each out-of-town visitor spends, on average, $183 a day, which is worth closer to $300 as it ripples through local economies, according to the college.

With demand for rooms up, the average daily rate for hotels in the county followed. They increased 5.3 percent in January to $103.54 while the revenue per available room jumped 13.4 percent to $55.10 over January 2011.

Peninsular Charleston hotels reported the highest occupancy rate of 62.5 percent, up 11.7 percent, with about 8,300 more room nights sold over January a year ago. East Cooper saw the biggest percentage jump in hotel occupancy, up 18.5 percent to 40.6 percent, with about 4,200 more room nights sold than January 2011.

West Ashley posted a 10.7 percent increase in occupancy to 46.9 percent with about 1,900 more room nights sold over the previous January. North Charleston hotels reported a 0.4 percent increase in occupancy.

At least one local lodging was less than pleased with some of the business it lined up from the GOP presidential contest: The ritzy Charleston Place recently filed a lawsuit alleging the Southern Republican Leadership Conference ran out on a bill of $227,872 after putting on a poorly attended gathering during the primary. The group said the hotel breached its contract.

Reach Warren L. Wise at 937-5524 or on Twitter at @warrenlancewise. John McDermott contributed to this report.