Amid its ambience of cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, antebellum homes, and 18th century plantations, Charleston manages to squeeze in a vital arts scene, a burgeoning culinary culture and resort island getaways worthy as destinations unto their own.
For all its 21st century amenities, Charleston retains its Rhett Butler-era grace and dignity, oak- and palm-lined streets and historic facades rich with tales of its Revolutionary and Civil War past and filled with no less than 3,500 ages-old buildings in a few dozen blocks.
“Charleston is wonderfully historic,” says Jonathan Kaiser, owner of local DMC Group Dynamics of Charleston. “We’re still very Southern, we’re small, there’s no traffic, no crime. But I think we’re still a fairly well-kept secret.”
While preserving its roots, this old Southern belle has kept pace with its big-city counterparts when it comes to hosting groups.
“Planners are most surprised about the size of groups we can handle. They think we’re a small town,” says Suzanne Wallace, director of sales for the Charleston Area CVB.
North Charleston is home to the city’s primary group venue, the Charleston Area Convention Center Complex, with more than 150,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space at the convention center itself. The complex also features the North Charleston Coliseum, offering 30,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Performing Arts Center, with a 2,300-seat theater.
Across the street from the convention center complex, a Tanger Outlet Center, which debuted last year as part of a 1.1 million-square-foot commercial and retail development, has been a big hit with groups.
“Before, groups really didn’t have a lot to do in the area. There was no place to walk in the evening. They were pretty much stuck,” Wallace says. “The mall has helped with meetings being booked; it’s something for the delegates to do after-hours. This has opened a new ballgame for the meetings market.”
Connected to the convention complex is the Embassy Suites North Charleston–Airport Hotel and Convention Center, and other meetings-friendly properties in the area include the new Holiday Inn Charleston Airport and Convention Center.
Additionally, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide plans to open a 140-room aloft hotel in North Charleston in 2008.
Aside from the aloft property, other new hotels now breaking ground will bring 300 to 500 additional rooms into Charleston’s inventory by 2010, including a Hilton property opening in 2009 in downtown Charleston.
Charleston’s historic downtown district is within a 10-minute drive of the convention complex, and planners can take advantage of numerous meetings-ready hotels in the area.
Options well suited to groups include the Doubletree Guest Suites Historic Charleston; the Charleston Place Hotel; the newly renovated Francis Marion Hotel; the newly renovated Mills House Hotel; the new Market Pavilion Hotel; and the recently renovated Charleston Marriott (formerly the Charleston Riverview Hotel).
In addition to new hotels, attendees are enjoying increased accessibility into Charleston International Airport with added service from low-cost carrier AirTran Airways. AirTran provides service to and from 50 destinations, including daily flights to Atlanta, and offers connecting service to cities including Washington, D.C., Boston and New York, as well as West Coast destinations including San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
In the past, Charleston has largely been a drive market, according to Wallace.
“We have had no low-cost carrier and our rates into Charleston have been very high,” Wallace says. “This will give us more seats and lower fares.”
Once in Charleston, attendees like to linger, according to Wallace.
“Delegates often come and spend a day or two before or after their meeting,” she says. “We’re promoting ourselves as a place people come and want to bring their families.”
On the agenda are tours spotlighting the city’s past and visits to historic buildings. Groups can take a 30-minute cruise in Charleston’s harbor to Fort Sumter National Park, where narrated tours chronicle its Civil War past. History buffs will also enjoy Charleston’s open tours of private homes. Fall tours are held by the Preservation Society of Charleston, and spring tours are organized by the Historic Charleston Foundation. The CVB can also arrange programs with local companies such as Bulldog Tours that showcase the city’s eeriest corners. Bulldog offers ghost walks and visits to Charleston’s old city jail or Charleston’s oldest graveyard.
Aside from history, shopping for antiques along lower King Street is a big attraction, as is Charleston’s growing dining scene. Top-name chefs like Bob Waggoner of Charleston Place Hotel’s Charleston Grill draw accolades from foodies and the industry alike. The region’s own Lowcountry cuisine is also garnering attention.
“People thought it was just what we called our kind of food, but it’s actually a comprehensive regional cuisine,” says Group Dynamics of Charleston’s Kaiser.
In addition to star restaurants like 82 Queen and Cypress–A Lowcountry Grille, Charleston hosts the annual BB&T Charleston Food and Wine Festival, showcasing Lowcountry cooking.
Another Charleston highlight worth fitting into an agenda is the annual springtime Spoleto Festival USA, a 17-day fine arts celebration featuring more than 120 performances all over the city, including dance, theater, opera, jazz, and visual arts, among other disciplines. The Piccolo Spoleto Festival, a complement to the event, focuses on local and Southeastern artists and performers, and includes options like the Brown Bag and Ballet, held during lunchtime at the Charleston Ballet Theatre, and art displays in Marion Square.
Meanwhile, many of the city’s main attractions are available as off-site venues. The South Carolina Aquarium features more than 22,000 square feet of event space for up to 1,500 people, while the Gibbes Museum of Art has a reception area and space for picnics at its outdoor courtyard. The restored Historic Rice Mill Building offers 4,000 square feet of waterfront event space, with a marina view and two open-air patios.
Resort beaches and year-round, world-class golf are traditional group recreational activities, but more diverse options abound.
“One thing that doesn’t get as much attention as it should is our ecotourism,” Kaiser says. “We have a unique salt marsh landscape other regions don’t have. Tidal creeks, salt marshes and ocean all bleed together along the coast.”
Activities include kayaking and inshore fishing, and Group Dynamics also runs a 75-passenger catamaran out to an uninhabited island, where participants can spend the morning beachcombing and have a catered lunch on the sand. Visits to nearby parks are available as well, including the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, a 15,000-acre sanctuary for wildlife and home to the largest remaining virgin stand of bald cypress and tupelo trees in the world.
Delegates will also find a variety of attractions in Charleston’s surrounding areas.
Just across the Arthur J. Ravenel Jr. Bridge (aka Cooper River Bridge) lies the old fishing village of Mt. Pleasant. Groups can visit the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, the former plantation home of Charles Pinckney, known as the “Forgotten Founder.” Pinckney was a principal author and a signer of the U.S. Constitution.
Another option is to host an event at Mt. Pleasant’s Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, one of the world’s largest naval and maritime museum complexes. Patriots Point offers a few venues for group receptions, including the World War II aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, which overlooks Charleston Harbor.
Attendees wishing to stay and meet in Mt. Pleasant can opt for the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina.
Also attractive to groups is the barrier island Folly Beach, the closest beach to Charleston, where George Gershwin penned Porgy and Bess. Its pier offers opportunities for birding or fishing, while its beaches are popular for surfing.
Resort Islands
For a more secluded experience, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island and Isle of Palms are each a short drive from Charleston.
On the four-mile-long Isle of Palms, groups will find an all-in-one experience at the Wild Dunes Resort, a Destination Hotels and Resorts property offering nationally ranked tennis courts, two Tom Fazio-designed championship golf courses and luxury accommodations. Aside from golf tournaments and tennis clinics, the resort can organize team-building options such as boat-building regattas, beach Olympics and the Wild Dunes Amazing Race on bikes, as well as kayaking trips, sailing excursions or dinners at the Grand Pavilion.
Last August, Wild Dunes unveiled Sweetgrass Pavilion, its new 10,000-square-foot meeting facility. Another upcoming addition, the Village at Wild Dunes, will add more than 100 oceanfront suites to the property’s inventory, which currently includes the 93-room Boardwalk Inn hotel and 350 villas and homes. The first phase of the village is due to open by the end of the year, while other amenities such as another restaurant and a larger spa are scheduled to open in 2008.
The resort will also unveil a new website geared toward meeting planners this month. The site, www.wilddunesmeetings.com, will feature information about accommodations and facilities, and allow planners to submit RFPs.
Kiawah Island is a 10,000-acre private residential resort community with 10 miles of beaches and 30 miles of paved biking trails.
“Kiawah has nature in mind—no commercialism—and there are bobcats, deer and bald eagles, and kayaking, canoeing and miles of trails,” says Marty Couch, director of sales for the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
The resort runs the 255-room Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, with 18,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Villas at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, as well as five championship golf courses, including the Ocean Course, which will be hosting a PGA championship in 2012. A new $22 million clubhouse recently opened at the Ocean Course, offering 1,800 square feet of function space that can be divided into three private rooms.
Aside from golf and tennis for groups, the resort can arrange theme parties, such as Survivor-style events for up to 1,000 people, replete with tiki torches and boat races.
Seabrook is another Charleston-area island paradise with beautiful beaches, abundant wildlife and ecotourism offerings, in addition to full-service resort amenities. Seabrook Island accommodates groups in villas and cottages and features 12,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, and amenities include two championship golf courses, a tennis center, horseback riding, top restaurants, shopping options, and a marina.
For More Info
Charleston Area CVB 843.853.8000
www.charlestoncvb.com
