New research reveals that South Carolina is the most travel-obsessed state.   

The research, conducted by vacation experts Family Destinations Guide, analyzed Google Trends data of the last 12 months for search terms frequently used by travel enthusiasts and often associated with traveling.

Those search terms were then combined to give each state a total travel score to discover America’s most and least travel-obsessed states. 

The study revealed that South Carolina ranks as the most travel-obsessed state in America. With a total travel score of 582 out of a possible 800, South Carolina ranks highly across every keyword analyzed in the study. 

For instance, South Carolina is the state most interested in travel agencies, having the highest number of searches for the term ‘travel agent’ in the country, and is the state searching for the phrase ‘beach vacation’ the second-most in the country.

Florida ranks as the second most travel-obsessed state in the country. With a total travel score of 561, Florida is mainly interested in budget-friendly holidays.

For example, the Sunshine State has the second-highest level of searches for the term ‘cheap flights’ and the third-highest level of searches for ‘cheap hotels’ in the country. 

Delaware ranks as the third most travel-obsessed state in the country. The study revealed that Delaware has the highest level of searches for both the key terms ‘cheap hotels’ and ‘travel insurance’ in the country, giving Delaware a total travel score of 557. 

The study placed Mississippi next in the ranking, placing fourth overall with a total travel score of 554, followed by Nevada, which ranked fifth with a score of 538. 

The top 10 most travel-obsessed states are rounded out by Georgia ranking in sixth place, Wyoming in seventh, followed by Louisiana, New York, and Hawaii in eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.

Former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley said he will step down as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian organization, in April 2023.

In a statement, Beasley said:

“Serving in this capacity has been the greatest joy and deepest heartache of my life. Thanks to the generosity of governments and individuals, we have fed so many millions of people.  But the reality is we have not been able to feed them all - and the tragedy of extreme hunger in a wealthy world persists.

My term of office will end in April 2023 and the process to select my successor has begun.

I look forward to working with the new Executive Director to deliver a seamless transition, and they will have my full support as they lead WFP forward.

It has been an honor to serve this inspiring organization and to work with its 23,000 dedicated women and men. I thank the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for giving me this role to play.

But most of all, I thank the women, men and especially the children who live in poverty and hunger: every day, they show an extraordinary strength, courage and generosity of spirit the whole world needs to learn. They are an example to us all.”

Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV) announced the hiring of Michael Colasso as the company’s new enterprise and operational risk executive director.

Colasso reports to Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Shellie Creson and is based in Atlanta, Ga. He is responsible for the strategic design and execution of Synovus’ enterprise and operational risk programs and oversight, including frameworks and methodologies to support effective risk identification, assessment, mitigation and monitoring.

Colasso has more than 15 years of financial risk management experience. He joins Synovus from Truist, where he most recently was head of enterprise risk management programs and framework since 2019.

Colasso began his career in fraud and forensics at KPMG and served as a senior examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta for banks with more than $100 billion in assets.

Colasso is a graduate of Emory University. He holds a certified public accountant license and certified fraud examiner designation.

Synovus Financial Corp. is a financial services company based in Columbus, Ga., with approximately $59 billion in assets.

Synovus provides commercial and consumer banking and a full suite of specialized products and services, including private banking, treasury management, wealth management, mortgage services, premium finance, asset-based lending, structured lending, capital markets and international banking.

Synovus has branches in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee. 

Duke Energy said Dec. 26, 2022, it met the expected peak energy demand in the Carolinas, thanks in part to customer efforts to conserve power after the weekend's arctic blast affecting power generation and delivery in much of the country.

As a result of gradually warming temperatures and improved power availability, no additional conservation measures are needed from customers at this time, Duke Energy officials said.

"Whether you lost power from interruptions in service or conserved energy to help others, we are deeply grateful for your patience and understanding," said Carolinas manager grid operations, Daniel Fain.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies.

Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South  Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity.

Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.