Become a Tourism Partner
South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism works closely with our Tourism Partners to promote local and statewide tourism-oriented properties and activities across the State. We invite you to join us in this program. SCPRT offers to display your accommodation property or event for free on our tourism website, DiscoverSouthCarolina.com. Events, if they meet the guidelines, will be considered for inclusion in our Festivals/Events PDF, that is accessible on DiscoverSouthCarolina.com SCPRT no longer offers this service for Attractions. Review the Publishing Guidelines below.

  • Accommodations
  • Events and Festivals

Accommodation Guidelines

The following are requirements for accommodations to be included on DiscoverSouthCarolina.com, the official tourism website of South Carolina:

  • Accommodations must be available to the general public without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, age, sex, or nationality according to South Carolina law.
  • Conference centers must have an adjoined hotel with reservations open to the general public.
  • SC based short-term vacation-rental properties affiliated with a realty company will be listed as the realty company under a Vacation Rentals designation.
  • Timeshares or membership based short-term rentals must rent to the traveling public without a sales or discounts presentation.
  • Entire property must be physically located within South Carolina and have a South Carolina street mailing address.
  • Must be a legally operating and a tax-paying business.
  • Cannot promote gaming/gambling, illegal activities, nudity, drunkenness, or otherwise indecent atmosphere.
  • Must meet state SC Department of Health guidelines, if applicable.
  • Accommodations requiring more than seven days stay, private rentals, booking sites, and web portal sites will not be accepted.

It is the sole responsibility of the property owner or manager to provide complete and accurate information about their accommodation and for updating this information in a timely manner, as needed, or annually.  All updates are reviewed by a data editor before publication.   The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT) reserves all rights for final editing.   Submission of an accommodation does not guarantee a listing.  Approval/disapproval for inclusion of accommodations into the state’s Official Tourism Website is at the sole discretion of SCPRT.

Event and Existing Festival Partners who wish to update their listings please click here
Events and Festivals seeking a NEW listing and have acknowledged and accepted our Guidelines please click here

Event and Festival Guidelines

Any FESTIVAL/EVENT meeting the guidelines listed herein is eligible for consideration for inclusion in the online version of our South Carolina Calendar of Events. Membership with any private organization or association is not required for inclusion.

All FESTIVALS/EVENTS must have specific dates and public contact information. FESTIVALS/EVENTS that do not include start and end dates will not be published.

SCPRT developed these guidelines to better facilitate the listing of FESTIVALS/EVENTS pertinent to the promotion of travel and tourism for the state of South Carolina.

Submission of a FESTIVAL or EVENT does not guarantee a listing.

Approval/disapproval for inclusion of FESTIVALS/EVENTS into DiscoverSouthCarolina.com is at the sole discretion of SCPRT.

If inclusion of the FESTIVAL/EVENT is denied, the respective product owner may submit an appeal, in writing, to the Sales and Marketing Office of SCPRT at: Events@SCPRT.com

For the purpose of these guidelines, the term “Festival” or “Event” is to include:
  • Events that appeal to tourists. Usually major events such as Sun Fun and the Spoleto Festival USA, but also could include cultural or “southern” events – tours of major historic sites, tours of homes, and food festivals.
  • National sports events. (e.g. Darlington races, PGA tournaments, Bass Master tournaments, sanctioned national softball tournaments, little league tournaments, bike races).
  • Statewide sports events. Governor’s Billfishing series.
  • Events that draw more than 100,000 people. (e.g. the State Fair or Balloons Over Anderson).
  • Events that showcase a small town. (e.g. Springfield’s Governor’s Frog Jump and Egg Striking Contest; Edgefield’s Ten Governor’s Pig Pickin’, Latta’s Spring Fest).
  • Fourth of July events.
  • New Year events
  • Christmas events. (e.g. Craft shows, main street open houses, historic home tours, tree festivals).
  • Ethnic festivals. (e.g. Oktoberfest, Moja Arts Festival, Scottish Games and Highlands Gathering).
For inclusion in the South Carolina Calendar of Festivals and Events, all:
  • Must be located within the borders of the state of South Carolina and have a South Carolina site or street mailing address.
  • Admission must be available to the general public without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, age, sex, or nationality according to South Carolina law.
  • Cannot promote gaming/gambling, nudity, drunkenness or lewd behavior.
Examples of Festivals/Events not eligible for inclusion:
  • Music concerts, nightclub performances, local theater’s calendar (unless one of the plays features a nationally renowned performer).
  • Civic club and community meetings, conference dates.
  • Symposiums, lectures, seminars, educational classes.
  • Local art gallery, museum, or attraction special events or exhibits.
  • Family or class reunions.
  • High school or college sports schedules or graduations.
  • Regional sports or team schedules
  • Church bazaars, picnics, and special events.
  • Retail sales events (i.e. for-profit events at private business that call themselves ‘festivals,’ such as a spring garden festival at a nursery which is intended to boost sales of their gardens items; an ‘inventory’ festival at a car dealership).
  • Summer camp schedules, local recitals.
  • Fundraising events.
  • Beauty Pageants.
  • Exceedingly localized events.
FESTIVALS and EVENTS that currently have a listing on the website may update their product information 24/7 through the Partner Logon Portal. All updates are reviewed before publication. SCPRT reserves all rights for final editing.

Submission of a FESTIVAL or EVENT does not guarantee a listing. Approval/disapproval for inclusion of FESTIVALS/EVENTS into DiscoverSouthCarolina.com and the state’s Official South Carolina Vacation Guide is at the sole discretion of SCPRT. Space in the Vacation Guide is limited and therefore not all FESTIVALS/EVENTS are listed.

If inclusion of the FESTIVAL/EVENT is denied, the respective product owner may submit an appeal, in writing, to the Sales and Marketing Office of SCPRT.

It is the sole responsibility of the property owner or manager to provide complete and accurate information about their FESTIVAL/EVENT. The representative is also responsible for updating this information in a timely manner, as needed, or annually. Any information that has not been updated within a 15-month time period will no longer be published to DiscoverSouthCarolina.com.
Events and Festival seeking a NEW listing or to UPDATE an existing listing will email their request here

South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism

1205 Pendleton Street Columbia, SC 29201