MYRTLE BEACH — If summer tourism numbers released recently by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce are any indication, vacationers visited the Grand Strand at a record pace on Labor Day Weekend, even amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.
The chamber said one reason for the surge of visitors is due to various marketing campaigns distributed to multiple states with other experts adding that tourists are ready to travel after quarantines and other measures implemented to slow the spread of the virus, boosting the economy overall.
“Most national and local indicators show significantly greater demand and sales in the leisure tourism sector of the entire U.S. economy, and the Grand Strand is exemplary rather than an exception, “ said Rob Salvino, director of the Grant Center for Real Estate and Economics at Coastal Carolina University.
The occupancy rate for area hotels during the holiday weekend was nearly 77%, up from 57% in 2020 and 33% in 2019, a year not tainted with the pandemic.
During the peak of the overall tourism season, which runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, visitor volume also was higher than the past two years, according to chamber data.
In June, the average paid occupancy was 88%, up from 58% in 2020 and 54% in 2019.
In July, the busiest month of the year, the average paid occupancy was 92%, 30 percentage points higher than 2020 and 28 percentage points over 2019.
In August, the average paid occupancy was 81%, 32 percentage points over 2020 and 24 percentage points higher than 2019.
Visit Myrtle Beach, the chamber’s marketing division, launched a “Share Some Sunshine” campaign soon after the pandemic struck in 2020 to maintain interest in the destination during COVID-19 and invite visitors back responsibly, according to Visit Myrtle Beach’s Chief Marketing Officer Stuart Butler.
Myrtle Beach kept up promotions as other destinations pulled back, he said.
“This resulted in Myrtle Beach being top-of-mind when people felt ready to travel,” Butler said.
Butler said the record numbers are also attributed to the Grand Strand reopening the area before many other popular tourist destinations through Accelerate Myrtle Beach.
The Accelerate Myrtle Beach Recovery Task Force was created by the chamber and Convention and Visitors Bureau in collaboration with the Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association in 2020 to provide guidelines for marketing and communications to local area accommodations, restaurants, attractions, golf courses, retail outlets and other businesses.
Another marketing campaign, “You Belong At The Beach” launched in May by Visit Myrtle Beach, helped with this summer’s numbers, Butler said.
“Through all our campaign messaging and target markets, we were flexible in order to quickly respond to shifting conditions,” Butler said. “These campaigns set the destination up for a strong rebound during these challenging times and has helped reduce the impact the pandemic had on our businesses and community overall.”
Butler said most of the visitors this year are coming from South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida, West Virginia and they are helping area businesses recover financially.
“The high volume of occupancy and higher average daily rates we saw across the Grand Strand this summer provided our businesses with increased revenue that was lost during 2020 due to the pandemic,” Butler said. “Much of these profits and the tax revenues gained will then be reinvested back into our community, providing us all with a better quality of life.”
About the Author
