Savannah Chamber

45 At the start of the pandemic, Visit Savannah introduced the "Rediscover Our City" campaign, encouraging local residents to go out and support area businesses. By doing so, businesses would begin to re-open and people would start getting back to work. The campaign was part of Visit Savannah's pandemic-recovery marketing plan and proved to be very successful. While far from being "back to normal", the local lodging industry has seen occupancies and average rates increase consistently each month from June through November. This effort was coordinated with the launch of the "Savannah Safe Pledge," an effort to encourage businesses in Savannah and Chatham County to adopt protocols aimed at reducing transmission of the coronavirus. The wildly successful initiative far surpassed expectations with over 700 businesses pledging adherence to guidelines intended to provide local residents and visitors alike reassurance that Savannah remains a safe and beautiful destination. More recent tourism marketing efforts are directed towards regional drive-in markets, particularly Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and other southeastern cities, as well as very targeted non-stop fly-market cities in the northeast and Midwest. And speaking of air service, the recent success levels of Jet Blue and Allegiant directly contributed to the news of Southwest Airlines announcing that they would begin service to Savannah from five cities in March 2021. Despite the year's challenges, Savannah welcomed the opening of the Plant Riverside district at the west end of River Street. The Plant Riverside district is home to the JW Marriott hotel, local businesses, restaurants, and beautiful public spaces and is expected to be a popular destination for visitors to the city and regional residents. The sector's forecast is among the most uncertain for 2021. To a large degree, the sector's recovery will depend on an increased comfort level among visitors, local residents, and sector employees in their interactions with each other in the marketplace. Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector is expected to return to about 90% of its pre-pandemic level by the end of 2021. On a relative basis, Savannah's hospitality sector will recover more quickly than the national tourism sector because as a primarily drive-in destination, the area's tourism industry is less reliant on international travel and air travel. Further, the city's tourism business is primarily for leisure rather than business travel. As for the post-pandemic economy, as people become more comfortable with traveling and socializing again, the Hostess City will be ready to welcome them. Health Services The regional health care sector continues to be a stalwart of economic consistency and growth since 2007. This sector is resistant to cyclical downturns and experienced fewer job losses during both the current pandemic recession and the Great Recession (2007-09). As of November, the sector has bounced back to approximately 99% of its pre-pandemic employment level in February 2020. Health services employs approximately 22,000 workers. As a regional healthcare delivery center, the health sector continues to be a vital component of the area's economy and growth prospects are good in the short and long run. The two nationally recognized medical centers in Savannah, St. Joseph's/Candler and Hospital Corporation of America's (HCA) Memorial University Medical Center serve the healthcare needs of people from across Georgia's southeastern region. St. Joseph's/Candler health care system continues to expand its portfolio of medical facilities in the region. Phase I of the $62 million campus in Pooler opened in 2019. Additional renovations and expansions of the Candler Pooler campus and Candler midtown Savannah campus are supported by another $60 million investment. SJ/C is building a $20 million regional medical campus in Bluffton, SC. The campus is going up at Buckwalter Place in two phases during the next five years. Combined, these projects will contribute towards increasing St. Joseph's/Candler's economic footprint which reaches $1.1 billion in economic and community impact. Memorial University Medical Center is a notable provider of healthcare in the southeast region of Georgia with a 622-bed academic hospital serving 35 counties in the coastal Georgia and South Carolina area. In the two years since Memorial University Medical Center integrated with HCA Healthcare, approximately $100 million has been invested in new and renovated facilities. In 2020, the state of Georgia approved Memorial Health's $12.5 million plan to construct two freestanding emergency rooms, one each in Richmond Hill and Pooler. Memorial's 86,000 square-foot Dwaine & Cynthia Willett Children's Hospital of Savannah is planned for opening in the first quarter of 2021. The facility is expected to treat more than 70,000 patients from 106 counties in Georgia and South Carolina. Memorial opened the $2.5 million Savannah Speech & Hearing Center in September 2020. Memorial also expanded its mental heath programming in area by adding two offerings for adults: a partial hospitalization program and adult dual- diagnosis intensive outpatient program.

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