By Mike Fitts
SCBIZ Daily Staff

COLUMBIA -- As the Columbia hotel market is growing, the Inn at USC is poised to play a more direct role.

Since its 2004 opening, the inn has operated under a covenant with local hoteliers, who feared the university-approved competitor would cut into their limited downtown business. That covenant restricted the inn’s public marketing and put an initial limit on occupancy rates. In fact, the inn is now hard for visitors to find, without a hotel sign out front.

Under these rules, the inn has focused on serving its two niches: USC visitors and those attending the National Advocacy Center, the U.S. Justice Department’s training site for attorneys.

In January, that covenant is set to end after five years, said Jerry Odom, executive director of the USC Foundations. The USC Development Foundation owns a majority share of the inn, and Odom expects the inn’s board to approve a higher public profile for the inn. This would include listing of available rooms on travel search engine Web sites such as Travelocity and Orbitz.

While the move would make the inn a more public player in the crowded downtown hotel market, Odom emphasizes that it will still be focused on the two core clients that have helped it along: USC and Justice. “We’re very proud of it…and how it’s turned out.”

Read more about the hotel industry’s growth in the Aug. 25 issue of the Columbia Regional Business Report.

Reach Mike Fitts at 803-401-1094 ext. 204.