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Prices at the pump fail to put brakes on tourism
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
The upsurge in gasoline prices has done little to keep tourists from driving to the Lowcountry, according to local tourism industry experts.
During Labor Day weekend, when Lowcountry gas prices hovered at $3.30 per gallon, tourists still came, said Terri Haack, vice president and managing director of Wild Dunes and incoming board chairwoman of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Haack described the Labor Day weekend as “robust” for the tourism industry.
“People continue to place high value on precious moments to get away,” she explained. She added that most visitors to the Lowcountry live about three to six hours away and can arrive here either on half a tank of gasoline or a full tank.
Long-planned getaways this summer have withstood soaring gasoline prices so far, said Richard Harrill, director of the University of South Carolina’s Institute for Tourism Research. “People won’t mess with the family vacation,” he remarked.
“We’re still looking forward to a great fall,” said Mitch Linder, president of the Greater Charleston Hotel & Motel Association.
Linder and others in the Lowcountry’s lodging industry noted the gasoline price surge has caused few reservation cancellations.
“We have not had a big rush of calls with people saying they’re not coming,” said Tripp Hays, sales and marketing director for the Mills House Hotel and past president of the Greater Charleston Hotel & Motel Association. Upcoming visitors to the Lowcountry have said they are more concerned about gas availability in the Charleston area rather than gas price, he added.
“Supply isn’t so much a problem because Charleston gets its gas from barges, not pipelines,” explained John Crotts, director of the College of Charleston’s hospitality and tourism management program. “Even though the rise in gasoline prices has been a psychological jolt to everyone, when you back up and look at it, driving is still affordable.”
Future difficulties
Even if gasoline prices were to hit $4 per gallon, some tourists most likely would not cancel Lowcountry hotel reservations, according to industry experts.
“The Lowcountry has attracted a more affluent traveler not concerned about gas prices,” said Hays.
That might be true for affluent travelers, but the less affluent will stay closer to home, Harrill noted. If gasoline prices approached $3.50 per gallon, vacation travel among those with tight budgets will be curtailed, he added.
Motels and hotels might try to induce traveling by offering special room rates and weekend packages, Harrill added.
Rick Mosteller, a partner with Spirit Line Cruises, which conducts trips to Fort Sumter, dinner cruises and tours of Charleston harbor, said business remains strong despite high gasoline prices. He noted that although a couple cancelled a Labor Day weekend dinner cruise, another couple filled the vacancy.
And while fuel costs for Spirit Line Cruises have doubled during the past year, those costs have not been passed on to customers, Mosteller explained.
“For the Fort Sumter tours, our prices are set for a year and controlled by the National Park Service. January to February is the window we have for asking for price increases,” Mosteller said. He and his partners have not decided how much of a price increase they will request early next year. However, prices for the dinner cruises will be raised $1, Mosteller noted.
Rising gasoline prices could affect the South Carolina Aquarium’s group tours, according to aquarium officials.
“We suspect the increase in gas prices due to Hurricane Katrina may make it more difficult for school groups to find funds for school field trips and the associated transportation costs,” said aquarium spokeswoman Christine Nott.
Dennis Quick covers hospitality and tourism for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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