CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Charleston is asking residents to help reshape how the city manages tourism nearly 50 years after becoming the first American city to adopt a tourism management plan.
The city’s Responsible Tourism Initiative will update the plan last revised in 2015. The effort, called The Charleston Standard, is intended to balance the economic benefits of tourism with concerns about traffic, parking, housing, noise and demands on public infrastructure.
The city says the process will be guided by a “Residents First” principle, placing livability at the center of tourism decisions.
Other priorities include improving city-controlled tourism data, promoting attractions outside the peninsula, expanding enforcement and management tools, and identifying new revenue sources to address tourism-related costs.
Charleston brought in Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono municipal consulting group, to review data, examine practices in other destinations and interview more than 70 community stakeholders. The city has released the group’s recommendations and is now seeking broader public feedback.
Residents are being asked how tourism affects their daily lives, which problems concern them most and how tourism-generated revenue should be spent.
The city has already introduced higher business license fees for hotels and short-term rentals. Those changes are projected to generate an additional $2 million annually for tourism management and livability improvements, officials said.
An online survey is available, and the city plans public meetings throughout the year. Open Studio sessions are scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. Sept. 24, Oct. 1 and Oct. 8.
Charleston aims to complete the updated plan by the end of the year.
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