Outdoor Activities

 

     The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT) is a cabinet agency with responsibility for helping grow the state’s economy through tourism development and promotion, and, for positively influencing quality of life in South Carolina through management of state parks and other recreation programs.

 

     Tourism has an annual economic impact of more than $14.6 billion in South Carolina. It is the state’s largest export, one of its largest employers, and continues to be a fast-growing industry. SCPRT plays a leading role in marketing South Carolina as a preferred travel destination. We work with local destination marketing organizations (such as chambers of commerce and convention and visitors bureaus) and private industry to promote South Carolina’s brand to out-of-state visitors and prospective new residents. We also help companies and local governments in the development and expansion of tourism infrastructure (e.g., hotels, amusements, sports complexes, etc.) and recreation facilities.

 

     Through the State Park Service, SCPRT oversees some of the state's most significant cultural, historic and natural treasures, including 47 state parks, as well as facilities at the State House and Governor’s Mansion. South Carolina's state parks provide special venues for the enjoyment of South Carolina residents and visitors alike.

     We also are working closely with other stakeholders across the state -- in both the public and private sector -- to implement recommendations of our new Tourism Action Plan.  This document, prepared after an extensive study of our state, lays out in detail how tourism can be taken to a whole new level in South Carolina. It's interesting and provocative reading and I'm pleased to say that the S.C. General Assembly already has responded to one of its key recommendations by sharply increasing the state's investment in marketing South Carolina as a tourism destination here and abroad. 

     I invite you to learn more about the agency right here at SCPRT.com. This on-line tool is designed to provide useful, at-your-finger-tips information to residents, tourism businesses and local governments. In addition, our tourism industry partners will find new, interactive tools to help manage their participation in SCPRT programs.