SPARTANBURG - Charleston could lure direct air service from England, Ireland and Germany in the next year, according to a travel consultant hired by the state.

Michael MacNulty, whose Tourism Development International has studied South Carolina tourism for about a year, said Monday that enough Europeans would favor Charleston for a long weekend to warrant nonstop commercial flights across the Atlantic.

"Charleston's the perfect three-day trip, but the problem is they don't know about it," MacNulty said.

Most East Coast-bound European tourists, he noted, "go to Florida and they go to New York."

Tourism Development International has charged state and local leaders with making the case to major carriers, particularly big European carriers like Aer Lingus in Ireland, British Airways and Germany's Lufthansa. MacNulty said commitments to market new flights would be more

persuasive than subsidies.

New international air service was one of many suggestions that MacNulty's company detailed at the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism & Travel, which began in Spartanburg Monday.

The consultant's 533-page report could show how to increase the industry's annual economic impact on the state from $16 billion to $40 billion by 2020, said Chad Prosser, head of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. But that assumes the recommendations are executed.

Prosser challenged several hundred tourism leaders Monday to act on the recommendations.

"We have barely scraped the surface of the potential of the tourism industry," he said.

Tourism Development International also recommends:

--Making the PRT a semi-private body like the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

--Expanding the Myrtle Beach Airport

--Promoting the diverse components of the tourism industry under a single "umbrella" of private-sector marketing

In recent years, South Carolina tourism has won more recognition from lawmakers in Columbia and travelers worldwide, thanks in part to an aggressive advertising campaign.

Gov. Mark Sanford suggested that the state spend an additional $13.5 million on tourism in the upcoming year, which would be the largest increase in the history of the Tourism Department.

The economic impact of the hospitality industry in South Carolina grew by 11 percent in 2005, according to recent state numbers, although tax revenue from visitors only increased by 5.5 percent in that time and hospitality worker payroll grew by just 3.1 percent.

Prosser said that the key to pushing those statistics higher is to "get local people fired up" about MacNulty's strategies and convince tourism promoters to stop competing with nearby destinations.

"You're starting to see that spark and that eureka moment," he said.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham made a brief appearance at Monday's gathering, also urging tourism leaders to forgo infighting. The Republican said that there is not enough state and federal government money to prop up travel initiatives in specific towns.

"We're going to have to think regionally ? to get the biggest bang for our buck," Graham said.

Sanford, who pushed to cut workers in the Tourism Department and increase state spending for travel promotion, is expected to speak at the conference today.