Jobs and revenue: Tourism talk in York County starts with Carowinds. But that’s not all
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been kind to tourism in York County. It hasn’t been a knockout punch either.
However, one loss came close.
Carowinds never opened this spring.
“You can see why hotels on that exit are not where they need to be,” said Billy Dunlap, president and CEO of Visit York County, which promotes the county’s tourism industry. “Restaurants on that exit are not where they need to be. Not as far off as what we’ve anticipated. They’ve kind of weathered the storm now, but hopefully we’ll get Carowinds back open in the spring.”
Dunlap offered York County Council the latest tourism facts and figures on Monday. He described a down industry but one that claims a few recent wins even as fewer people are traveling. Regardless of the topic, Dunlap couldn’t escape the amusement park that straddles the South Carolina, North Carolina line.
Carowinds impact
Owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. of Sandusky, Ohio, Carowinds has 223 full-time employees and hires as many as 4,000 seasonal workers, said Lisa Stryker, spokeswoman for Carowinds.
In anticipation of opening this Spring, Carowinds hired about 1,400 seasonal workers with plans for them to work during 2020, Stryker said. Because the park did not open, only a small number of the seasonal workers helped prepare the park for possible opening in early 2020, Stryker said.
“Carowinds remains committed to our full-time workforce and has no current plans to furlough,” Stryker said in a statement to The Herald.
Cedar Fair does not release attendance numbers for its individual parks, Stryker said. Cedar Fair attracted almost 28 million people to its 15 sites last year, the company said in February.
“Carowinds is by far the biggest tourist attraction in York County,” Dunlap said. “At least 45 percent of visitors come to York County to visit Carowinds. Carowinds is critical to York County and its economy.”
He described just how wide a reach the 400-acre amusement park has.
The second highest tourist destination in York County is Kingsley, which Dunlap said benefits from restaurants there that are close to Carowinds. The third highest is downtown Clover and sixth highest is downtown York — the two main ways to Carowinds from Greenville, Atlanta and other western markets.
“You’re going to downtown Clover or downtown York because you’re probably going to Carowinds,” Dunlap said.
Carowinds, which opened in 1973, has more than 60 rides, shows and attractions, including 14 roller coasters and Carolina Harbor, a 26-acre water park. Park officials have said in a statement they plan to open a new water area and other attractions next year.
Hotel rates
Hotels along Carowinds Boulevard were at 45% occupancy the week ending Aug. 8, Dunlap said, down 21.8% from the same week last year.
“Better than we thought,” he said.
Carowinds area hotels aren’t alone. Cherry Road corridor hotels had 60% occupancy the week of Aug. 8. That figure is down more than 4% from the same week last year. S.C. 160 corridor hotels are at 38.4% occupancy the most recent week.
“That is predominately a corporate travel exit,” Dunlap said. “We’re not seeing that come back yet. We are anticipating some of that coming back in the fourth quarter.”
Dave Lyle Boulevard hotels in Rock Hill are at 63.6% occupancy, down 13.2% from last year.
The coronavirus pandemic came during an expansion phase for York County hotels. In July two hotels opened in Fort Mill, a Home2 Suites and a Tru. WoodSpring Suites at Carowinds Boulevard opened this month. Cambria and Holiday Inn Express & Suites are under construction in Rock Hill, while Fort Mill has Avid and TownPlace Suites sites under construction.
Two more hotels, one each in Rock Hill and Fort Mill, are under renovation or rebranding, Dunlap said.
“Seven other hotels are ready to begin construction. They have either been approved, permitted or are ready to break ground. So a lot of supply going up in our hotels.”
Tourism gains and losses
Two major events, the NCAA College Basketball Academy and USA Volleyball A2 Invitational, won’t come to York County. There were 19 events in July, Dunlap said, at $8.4 million in direct event spending.
“Sports tourism is driving those (hotel) occupancy numbers,” he said.
Coronavirus also puts a strain on event space availability.
“We have limited use of facilities,” Dunlap said. “When we do events throughout York County we depend heavily on school districts and we depend heavily on Winthrop University. None of those stakeholders are allowing outside use of their facilities right now.”
York County does have some advantages. South Carolina is more open for event and group gatherings than some neighboring states.
“With North Carolina being shut down, we are seeing more events coming into York County,” Dunlap said.
Fort Mill hosted the Mrs. South Carolina and Mrs. North Carolina pageants. Rock Hill will again host the BMX Nationals, which had been set for Nashville, Tenn. There also have been major lacrosse and basketball events rescheduled for York County, Dunlap said.
Outdoor adventure
There is one area that almost has too many visitors — the Catawba River.
Dunlap said so many people are paddling the river that there won’t be a major promotion effort until further plans develop on how to increase capacity.
“We need an outfitter on the river,” he said. “We need someone who will transport people up and down the river. When you go to the dam on any given Saturday, 80% of your license plates are from outside South Carolina. People are coming there. It is a destination.”
It’s also part of a larger market that fits during the pandemic.
“Wevre really been focusing on outdoor adventures,” Dunlap said.
The type of visitors York County attracts lend to outdoor activity.
“We know that 95% of our visitors drive into the market, which bodes well for us right now because there are a lot of destinations that are struggling a lot worse than York County is,” Dunlap said.
More than half of York County visitors come from the Carolinas. Top states where York County visitors live are South Carolina (32.4%), North Carolina (27.8%), Georgia (6%), Florida (5.8%) and Virginia (3.9%).
Historic Brattonsville and Lake Wylie fishing tournaments are two of several outdoor attractions that bring guests.
Financial impact
Two taxes tend to indicate the health of area tourism. Accommodations tax is a charge on overnight stays. Hotels charge and pay it. Hospitality tax is a charge on prepared food and drink. Restaurants charge and pay it.
Rock Hill accommodations tax revenue is down more than 25% the past six months and down 8.8% the past 12 months, Dunlap said. Rock Hill hospitality tax revenue is down 12.7% in six months, 2.6% in 12 months, he said.
“Numbers not as bad as we thought they would be, is the message there,” Dunlap said.
Fort Mill accommodations tax funding is down 46% from this time last year. Hospitality tax funding is down 1%.
Again, there is a Carowinds impact. Carowinds and surrounding restaurants easily bring in the county’s most hospitality tax revenue.
Kevin Madden, York County assistant manager, said in the last budget year of 2019, Carowinds made up about $364,000 of the hospitality tax collected countywide. That’s around 12% of the about $3 million total collected annually in hospitality tax.
The 2020 fiscal year that ran from July 2019 through June 2020. Those figures, yet unaudited and including part of the pandemic time frame, showed the hospitality tax collected from Carowinds was at about $217,000, according to York County figures provided to The Herald.
Tourism optimism
There are reasons for optimism.
The Carolina Panthers headquarters in Rock Hill is still years away, but could give Carowinds a run for its money on overall tourism impact. The sports and event center in Rock Hill barely registered in 2019 attraction figures with its opening late in the year.
“I think we’re going to recover pretty well considering this pandemic, and COVID and all because I’ve seen the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center over the last several weeks and the traffic that’s coming through there,” said Councilman William “Bump” Roddey. “I’m excited to see what a full year is going to bring.”
Ebenezer Park will reopen from large scale upgrades. Field Day Park in Lake Wylie will open this fall. Councilwoman Allison Love, who represents Clover and Lake Wylie, said she would be interested to see impacts of Field Day Park and Buster Boyd Access Area.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 2:38 PM.
