South Carolina’s top hospitality industry leaders plan to meet next month for their annual conference, this time in a reduced format because of COVID-19.
O Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Travel, the “largest annual meeting of the South Carolina tourism industry”, according to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism of SC hosting it will be a shorter and simpler event in 2021, but it will still be held in person. This year the Columbia Convention Center is the location.
The staff at the convention center will check the participants’ temperature when they enter and face masks are required.
The usual receptions, tours of local attractions and golf matches have been eliminated from the agenda. Instead, the short two-day schedule from February 15th to 16th includes only general sessions. Group meetings have been eliminated to reduce movement in the corridors.
“We want to show the industry and others that it is safe to hold a meeting if you do it right,” said the state tourism director. Duane Parrish.
Parrish’s annual presentation on the state of the tourism industry is first on the list. It will announce the size of tourism in the state of Palmetto in 2019, in terms of billions of dollars, and an estimate of what that figure will look like in 2020, when the COVID-19 health crisis nearly cut travel expenses in Carolina southern.
The sessions will not be broadcast live online, but will be recorded so they can be viewed later, Parrish said.
During breaks, participants will receive prepackaged food to take back to their tables. These tables can accommodate up to four people, and people will be invited to sit in the same place throughout the event.
The conference will also follow the rules established by the convention center, which include the allocation of individual microphones to people so that the equipment is not passed on, cleaning the bathrooms after each use and spacing tables based on coronavirus protocols established by the Association of Restaurants and Lodging SC.
Usually, the conference location changes between the main destinations in the state. This year’s event was supposed to be in Greenville, but was moved to Columbia because of its central location, said Parrish. This way, it will be easier for participants to drive home and return between the first and second days of the conference instead of staying in a hotel.
The event usually attracts about 350 people to the capital, said Parrish, but he expects about a third of that to attend this year.
Current restrictions on coronavirus in South Carolina only require events that expect more than 250 participants to obtain special permission from the state commercial department. So far, almost all events that have registered have been approved.
Last year’s Governor’s Conference was held in Myrtle Beach in February, just over a month before tourism stopped when COVID-19 started to spread across South Carolina and other parts of the United States
This event was full of favorable news for the sector. Tourism has grown for the seventh consecutive year, becoming a $ 23.8 billion industry in the state.
South Carolina native Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish Fame was revealed at the event for being an official tourism ambassador for the state in 2020, and Rucker presented the participants with a surprise presentation at the Ballroom of the Marriott Grande Dunes.
As this partnership could not fully materialize after the live shows were suspended during the pandemic – part of the deal involved showing commercials that promoted tourism in South Carolina at some of Rucker’s shows – Parrish said they are still looking for ways to work with the country star solo when he can get back on stage.