Even seasoned tourists might balk at Columbia's famously hot climate, but USC's freshman orientation keeps hotel rooms stocked as spring turns to sweltering summer in the Midlands.
As local temperatures and humidity levels approach three digits and Gamecock home games all but dry up for the summer, it can seem as though Columbia empties out for the year's middle two months. But as students come from far and wide to retrieve their first CarolinaCards and spend their first nights on campus, freshman orientation not only keeps hotels citywide afloat but provides a small boost.
Positioned just around the corner from Hamilton College, the Inn at USC Wyndham Garden directly faces the Pendleton Street Garage. Reaching campus within seconds is a certainty. Thus, the 116-room Inn becomes prime real estate for new arrivals each June.
General manager Andrew Lucas said that without the wave of families traveling to USC for orientation, June is a relatively slow month. But with two orientation dates arriving each week, the hotel stays on track.
"There's no increase over any other month," Lucas said. "However, without the orientation in town, we would see probably this being our floor month."
Lucas said the Inn is "pretty close" to full for orientation dates, with days prior to the start of orientation sessions (Sundays and Wednesdays) often being two of the busiest days of the week for check-ins.
But the orientation effect reaches far beyond Pendleton Street. As executive director of Experience Columbia SC, Jason Outman keeps track of citywide hotel occupancy rates and average daily rates of reserving a room.
In 2016, Outman said, the hotel occupancy rate rose to 76.3 percent during the weeks of USC's freshman orientation, 3 percentage points higher than usual. Outman added that hotel room rates fell during the same period, from $141 per night to $131.
"I would say orientation does affect hotel occupancy but not necessarily the hotel room rate," Outman said of the data.
Orientation sessions for students who will be freshmen in fall 2017 are scheduled to run through July 27.