Business travel has not fully returned to Charleston International, and South Carolina's chief tourism official is not optimistic of a full recovery in the foreseeable future for the corporate-flying sector.
"I'm not sure business travel will ever come back to previous levels," said Duane Parrish, director of the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
He pointed out not many people had ever heard of Zoom 18 months ago, and companies have learned they can handle matters virtually to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as save money.
Charleston airport CEO Elliott Summey takes a different view. He believes business travel will come back, but it will take time to recover.
"As someone who used to travel for business, there is still nothing better than a face-to-face meeting," Summey said. "It's hard to build a relationship over Zoom."
He pointed out large corporations may be using virtual meetings as a cost-cutting measure, but entrepreneurs are likely going to continue traveling.
"It's the personal relationship that makes you stand out if you are trying to buy or sell a product to make a deal," Summey said.
On a positive note, Parrish noted Charleston is primarily a tourist market and said the decision by some carriers to reassign aircraft to travel destinations from business-centric cities could drive more leisure business to the region.
The introduction of new routes by some airlines also will help the Lowcountry, he said. For instance, Upstart Breeze Airways added several destinations from Charleston during the summer.
This year, the airport saw more than 2.9 million air travelers coming and going through Sept. 30. That's up 104 percent over the same period last year, but it's off 19 percent from 2019.
In total, the airport saw about 683,000 fewer passengers from January through September than it did in the year immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the falloff can be attributed to airline travel not returning to pre-virus levels until July. The first six months of 2021 compared to the first half of 2019 show a decrease of about 730,000 passengers.
Last month, Charleston's airport saw close to 387,000 ticketholders coming and going. That's 34,000 more than September 2019, when Hurricane Dorian skirted the coast and skewed the numbers lower.
If the airport averages 400,000 passengers during the last three months of the year, which is about 5 percent less than in 2019 for the year's last quarter, the final tally could be about 4.1 million. That's about 700,000 less than the record-setting year in 2019.
"I think we will hit our marks," Summey said. "The bookings look strong for the next three months according to the airlines. The weather is good, and people are moving around more."
