Leaders in the state's largest industry are asking Gov. Henry McMaster to issue an order to quarantining visitors, a move that will surely hurt the revival of the nearly $24 billion business after the COVID-19 scare ends.
Most hotels are operating at occupancy levels below 15 percent, substantially lower than the rates most properties see during mandatory hurricane evacuation orders.
The coronavirus continues to take its toll on the travel industry as half of all flights set to leave Charleston International Airport were canceled Monday. More pain could lie ahead as the pandemic tightens its grip on the U.S.
One group projects nearly 15,000 direct hotel-related jobs will be lost in South Carolina because of the coronavirus crisis.
The projected loss only accounts for the next month, and it's unclear how long losses will actually be felt.
Charleston International, the state's largest airport, is seeing about half or less of its normal number of passengers, and at least two carriers have eliminated six flights with more expected because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since hospitality in the Lowcountry has long been an employees’ market, with workers having their pick of positions amid a widespread staff shortage, many of the laid-off workers will be filing for unemployment benefits for the first time.
As government orders shut down many aspects of daily life in the Charleston area, police and sheriff's deputies are facing an unprecedented task of enforcing Gov. Henry McMaster's ban on gatherings of more than 50 people and the closure of all dine-in services at restaurants and bars.
It's not clear yet how many people will be out of work as tour operations cease, attractions close and business dries up, but it was obvious Wednesday that much of Charleston's tourism industry was starting to come to a screeching halt.
Around the Holy City, police officers, firefighters, healthcare workers, small business owners and others who can't work from home, or who can't afford to stop working, continue to clock in — day after day, despite the expanding pandemic. They can't telecommute like office workers.
Even before a state order halting dine-in food service across the state, Myrtle Beach had felt the first echoes of an economic downturn from the novel coronavirus. Decisions of faraway communities and businesses had already dealt a blow: Gone were traveling sports tournaments, the region's typical Can-Am Days celebration welcoming Canadian visitors on break, conventions and much group travel.
The Indigo Road, one of Charleston’s most celebrated and influential restaurant groups, this week is laying off 940 employees following the mandated closure of restaurants across the South in hopes of controlling the coronavirus pandemic.
The closures will cause more than 100 layoffs among the companies, making the job losses among the first Charleston's tourism industry has seen because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Immediate and direct assistance is both respectfully requested and required," the CEO of Silver Airways wrote.
The sites will close Wednesday, adding to the list of businesses and attractions suspending operations to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Charleston airport officials expect passenger levels to be down in March after a 5.4 percent rise in February — before the coronavirus was first reported in South Carolina.
The Holy City just got another accolade, and it may be coming at an opportune time.
The extension of the United States' travel ban in Europe to include the United Kingdom and Ireland will affect the return of British Airways' nonstop seasonal flights between London and Charleston.
A major airline serving Charleston International plans to cut passenger-carrying capacity by 40 percent to deal with a nosedive in demand, and it is talking to the White House and Congress abo…
As the disease's spread disrupts the economy across all sectors, the state could see negative economic growth in the spring quarter.
As concerns of coronavirus spread across the Lowcountry, ground-travel businesses and services are upping their cleaning routines and sharing information with riders about postponing or canceling travel. Local taxi businesses are upping their cleaning, too.
The Carnival Sunshine ship let off a few thousand passengers in Charleston Thursday morning and is scheduled to depart again with more vacationers later this afternoon.
British Airways' upcoming flights between London and Charleston are still on schedule amid the 30-day travel ban from Europe. The ban does not affect the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Charleston International expects March passenger numbers to be down because of the effect of the coronavirus on airline travel.
The Charleston region is seeing “an increased impact on group and leisure travel” due to coronavirus fears.
Businesses in Charleston's booming but worker-starved hospitality industry are offering a number of new incentives to try to entice employees to fill jobs in a tight labor market.
The conference center is the fourth major piece of the resort's island-wide expansion to be completed.
The financial success of the mid-May major will be viewed as "a measuring stick" when the time comes for the decision-makers to pick the next slate of future sites, said tournament co-chair Roger Warren, who's also president of Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
About a year after its opening, Hotel Bennett is unlocking the door to the most expensive hotel suite in Charleston.
Charleston's early history, told through the lens of Native American and enslaved communities, will be highlighted.
The newly approved plans outline how developers plan to retain historic structures on that stretch of upper King St., restore a previously covered facade and incorporate new construction.
A trademark filing from a Charleston boat tour operator couldn't stay afloat after another tour company argued the request wasn't fair to the competition.
Beaufort County staff said that the development shouldn't be allowed, but developers appealed that decision.
Silver Airways is adding flights between Charleston and Florida and will become the 10th airline serving the Lowcountry when it begins service in May.
Last month, longtime owner Stephen Dopp was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that recognizes historic lodgings around the country.
Hootie & The Blowfish frontman and country artist Darius Rucker has signed on as an ambassador for Palmetto State tourism to the tune of $500,000.
Fourteen people are seeing a vacant seat on Charleston's airport board following the resignation of a member in January who protested the selection process for the agency's new CEO.
The site, which for decades was the location of the State Ports Authority headquarters, is being converted into a full-service luxury lodging with street-level retail, dining, meeting and event space.
Up until now, the project has been referred to as the "Waterfront Hotel," but the property now has an official name.
Charleston's nonstop British Airways flight to London, which returns for a second season next month, was named the top tourism achievement in the state.
The board voted unanimously that it did not make a mistake when it voted down plans for a 215-room hotel at the former Hughes Lumber site on Mary Street.
An annual industry update in Myrtle Beach looked at the highlights for 2020, including a new marketing partnership with Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish fame.
Charleston International Airport landed a 6.3 percent climb in passengers in January over the same month last year. The increase comes after a record 4.87 million people passed through the terminal in 2019.
The production of "Into America's Wild," commissioned by Brand USA, took filmmakers to several Holy City hot spots.
Three hotel brands are opening at Nexton in the span of about a month, and a fourth is on the way.
American Airlines is picking up one of the two nonstop daily flights between Charleston and Washington, D.C., that JetBlue Airways abandoned last fall.
The event brings more than 40,000 people to the peninsula over one weekend, during a month that's traditionally not popular with visitors.
For the first time this year, South Carolina's statewide lodging reports will include data on short-term rentals in addition to hotels.
Emeline, a new hotel concept opening what used to be a DoubleTree flag in Charleston's Historic District, is slated to open in May.
A brand new extended-stay hotel brand announced it will open its first dozen hotels in 2020, and five of those locations will be in South Carolina.
The entire airport board first learned that Summey was up for the job on a Thursday. They would be asked to hire him just four days later, without considering a single outside candidate.