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SOUTH CAROLINA AREA GUIDES B M & T ••• September/October 2026 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 44 WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau—(800) 774-0006 https://www.charlestoncvb.com/ GREENVILLE Accessibility is one of Greenville's top draws as a meeting destination. Most of the U.S. population is within a day's drive of the city, which is located midway between Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina. Greenville- Spartanburg International Airport, which is only 15 minutes from down- town, has more than 100 daily nonstop flights to more than 20 destinations. For large meetings, the Greenville Convention Center offers 280,000 square feet of exhibit and event space, 60,000 square feet of meeting space and a 30,000-square-foot ballroom. There are more than 10,000 hotel rooms in the greater Greenville area, with many hotels having sizable facili- ties to accommodate meeting groups. In this city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of most iconic outdoor attractions can be found right in Downtown Greenville. Falls Park on the Reedy, the city's largest park, is especially known for the 345-Liberty Bridge and the pictur- esque views of the waterfalls sur- rounding it. Visitors can also enjoy the area's public art installations, shops, restaurants and breweries, as well as the art museum, history museum and Georgian homes on Rainbow Rowe, the Charleston City Market, The Battery and White Point Garden, the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park and the Old Slave Mart Museum. Two other historic landmarks locat- ed on the Ashley River just west of Charleston feature exhibits also tell the story of South Carolina's enslaved peo- ple. The Magnolia Plantation & Gardens offers an interactive "From Slavery to Freedom" tour of four restored and preserved cabins. At Middleton Place National Historic Landmark, home to the nation's oldest landscaped garden, stories of the enslaved people who lived there are presented throughout the 110-acre property, while artisans demonstrate the crafts they created. The Beyond the Fields presentation delves more deeply into the role of Middleton Place—once the home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Indendence—in the institution of slavery in America. Other local Black Heritage attrac- tions include the International African American Museum, Emmanuel AME Church and Catfish Row, the section of Church Street that inspired the set- ting of the opera "Porgy and Bess." The Gibbes Museum of Art exhibits the works of several African-American artists. Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau theater at Heritage Green. Also downtown is Greenville's pre- mier performing arts facility, the Peace Center, which has rentable space for meetings, receptions and banquets. WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Greenville Convention & Visitors Bureau—(800) 717-0023 https://www.visitgreenvillesc.com/ COLUMBIA The largest meeting venue in South Carolina's capital is the Columbia Metropolitan Conven-tion Center, a 142,500-square-foot facility that contains a 16,704-square-foot divisible ballroom and enough exhibit space to accommodate more than 450 trade show booths. The center, which has been noted for its robust sustainability initiatives, is located within a mile of more than 2,400 hotel rooms. Meeting attendees will find dozens of shopping, dining, cultural and entertainment options near the con- vention center. Top attractions include the Vista and Five Points shop- ping and dining hubs, the Columbia Museum of Art and the South Carolina State Museum. Visitors can explore the city's Black heritage on tours of the Mann- Simons site, a museum in the home of a 19th century family of African- American entrepreneurs, and the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House, a museum in the former home of a local civil rights leader. Those making their visit to Columbia a family trip might want to put the EdVenture Children's Museum and the Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens on their list of things to do. Outdoor adventurers might head to Congaree National Park, which offers canoeing and kayaking on Cedar Creek and hiking along a 2.4 mile boardwalk as well as other more chal- lenging trails. WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Columbia Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau—(800) 545-0000 https://www.experiencecolumbi- asc.com/ photo credit: Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau