Hotel revenue dips in September in the wake of hurricane

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Hurricane Florence had a significant impact on state hotel revenue in September, according to the latest indicators released Wednesday by the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism.

Hotel revenue per available room, a performance metric calculated by dividing a hotel’s total room revenue by the room count and number of days in the period being measured, dropped 2.4% in September compared to the same month in 2017. RevPAR is up, however, 1.6% year-to-date.

Admissions tax collections reflecting August business totaled $3.7 million and stand at $12.1 million year-to-date, up 9.3% compared to the same period in fiscal year 2017-18.

Despite the closure of several facilities in the wake of Hurricane Florence, state parks drew in $2.2 million in September, and park revenue year-to-date is $9.15 million. All state parks have reopened, though the 17-site campground at Cheraw State Park remains closed while its access road is repaired.

Overall deplanements at the state’s five major airports of 549,183 passengers represented a 15.6% jump in August compared to the same month in 2017, led by 212,019 deplanements at Charleston International Airport. Year-to-date, statewide deplanements have increased 12.1% to nearly 3.6 million, with Columbia Metropolitan Airport seeing 57,380 deplanements in August, a 13.4% increase, and 392,645 year-to-date, an 8.7% increase.