For most companies, the focus remains on recovery in 2021, trying to make up ground lost during the pandemic.

That is certainly the case in the tourism industry.

“We’re working very hard to rebuild from everything that happened in the last year,” said Karen Riordan, President and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. “And [we] are really starting to see a sharp increase in tourism. “

During a presentation to the Horry County Council’s Administrative Committee last week, Riordan spoke about the chamber’s goals for the summer and fall seasons, as well as the positive tourism trends the organization sees.

Riordan said the online travel company Tripadvisor recently reached out to the chamber because Myrtle Beach was one of the most wanted travel destinations in the country in June.

“That’s just really amazing again, when you think of some of the huge cities in America,” she said. “Orlando’s # 2, New York City, places like this. This is the first time in our history that Myrtle Beach has topped the leaderboards. … We have a lot of eyes on us and many people plan to visit us between June and December. ”

To understand how busy it is, consider that Myrtle Beach International Airport is well on its way to receiving 1 million passengers this summer. Throughout 2019, the airport’s busiest year on record, MYR welcomed 1.3 million passengers.

“Don’t go on Saturday afternoons unless you really have to,” joked Riordan. “We’re working on it, but it’s pretty hectic over there.”

COVID was obviously the factor that kept air traffic down over the past year. But with the added service from Southwest Airlines and more flights from Spirit Airlines, the airport has more than recovered.

MYR just saw its busiest May on record, with 326,774 passengers, up 8.2% from its previous high in 2019, according to the district’s records.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the interest in travel from our airport,” said Scott Van Moppes, director of Horry County Airports, in a press release. “While the airport team expected heavy traffic in 2021, the number of passengers will continue.” Exceeding expectations, a trend that we expect to continue for the foreseeable future. “

In addition to increased air traffic, there are other encouraging indicators for the local economy.

Riordan noted that the last segment of the tourism economy to return to normal will be conferences and congresses, but even this sector is showing signs of life.

“The good news is that the biggest group in sport and sport is back with a vengeance and is very, very busy this year,” she said. “We were actually able to get a lot of business from other markets, other destinations that didn’t support the sport as much or weren’t as open as we were, which was wonderful for us.”

While the chamber officials have been happy with the summer tourism data so far, they also hope to attract more visitors during the off-season. In autumn, for example, the Chamber set itself the goal of increasing the number of visitors by 5% and the number of first-time visitors by the same percentage. Their goals also include a 20% increase in deployments, which will bring traffic back to its pre-pandemic course.



New chamber marketing

These logos and symbols are part of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s new local marketing campaign. Chamber officials showed this last week to the Administrative Committee of Horry County Council.


Aside from promoting their outside of the state, the chamber officials have started developing a new local marketing strategy aimed at promoting the community along Grand Strand.

The promotions include billboards, stickers, banners and posters with the messages “We Are the Beach”, “MB” and “60 Miles Strong”. The campaign features new brightly colored logos and symbols, and some of these graphics are featured on golf shirts and tote bags. Chamber leaders even have a design proposal for a mural.

The purpose of this campaign?

“To bring the brand to life and get people in town to recognize and understand that these are some of the same looks and feels and messages that go out to our potential visitors,” said Riordan.

Before the pandemic, the area saw nearly 21 million visitors a year, according to the chamber’s estimates. Tourism authorities have not yet received the 2020 visitor numbers but expect a sharp drop due to COVID.

But despite the struggles of the pandemic, Riordan said Grand Strand did better than many other travel destinations in 2020. Citing data from the SC Department of Revenue, she said the region had gross annual sales of $ 842 million from the lodging sector, nearly $ 1.3 billion from restaurants, over $ 3 billion in retail and almost $ 34 million in golf.

“Horry County came through with flying colors,” she said.

Contact Charles D. Perry at 843-488-7236