For the second year in a row, Charleston took the No. 2 spot among American cities in Conde Nast Traveler's 2009 Readers' Choice Awards. Only the perennial favorite, San Francisco, fared better than the Holy City in the U.S. division. Santa Fe bumped New York out of the No. 3 spot after Charleston stole the second-place ranking from the Big Apple last year. The annual rankings consider the best in travel, including cities, hotels and airlines. The November issue containing the awards hits newsstands Tuesday. Meanwhile, Travel + Leisure magazine readers, in the recent "America's Favorite Cities" survey, rank Charleston the top destination in the country for bed-and-breakfasts, the No. 1 place to spend Thanksgiving and among the best spots in a host of other categories. The annual survey ranks 30 U.S. cities on everything from its food and hotels to its nightlife and residents. Charleston earned the No. 2 spot for a romantic escape, losing only to Honolulu. It also placed second for its antiques and vintage shops, its peace and quiet and its noteworthy neighborhoods. Readers ranked Charleston third among relaxing retreats, third for safety and fourth for historical sites. The Holy City even beat celebrity-rich Los Angeles for the No. 3 spot for most attractive people (Miami and San Diego topped that list). But on one particular ranking held close to heart, Charleston fell. Turns out, T+L readers think Nashville and New Orleans people are a bit friendlier this year. Not that we're keeping score, but they ranked fourth and seventh, respectively, last year. And those Conde Nast readers who ranked Charleston the country's second-best city also determined it the friendliest. Stay a while Hotel occupancy continues to brighten on the Charleston peninsula as the year winds down. But for every other part of the county, the number of filled rooms lags behind last year. Downtown Charleston saw a nearly 6 percent increase in hotel occupancy in September when compared with the same month last year, according to new data from the College of Charleston's Office of Tourism Analysis. Countywide, hotel occupancy dropped more than 4 percent. The East Cooper and North Charleston areas fared the worst with double-digit declines. Spending spree A new study revealed some good news in looking back on the economic impact of travel to South Carolina last year, recession and all. Visitors from within the country spent nearly $10 billion in South Carolina, or 1.7 percent more than the previous year, according to the U.S. Travel Association. The nonprofit organization prepared the report for the S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department. Those expenditures produced fewer than 114,000 jobs in the state, a slight drop from 2007. They also generated about $1.5 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue, a slight jump partially driven by higher taxes, according to the study. Horry County led the state, pulling in more than $3 billion in domestic travel expenditures. Charleston County ranked second with about $1.6 billion.

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