As pandemic stretches on, Myrtle Beach businesses have hope after busy Labor Day
The Grand Strand saw a busy Labor Day weekend as thousands flocked to the area despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, filling up hotels and restaurants and assuaging worries of a drop off in tourist traffic after the unofficial end to summer.
Many businesses in Myrtle Beach, and neighboring ones, saw healthy amounts of visitors all weekend. For some, this included Monday, which typically sees fewer people as tourists spend the day heading home rather than going to the beaches.
Oceanfront hotels had to put out “No Vacancy” signs as the holiday weekend approached. Across the beach, hotels like the Breakers Myrtle Beach Resort and motels like the Sea Dip saw close to 100% capacity Friday night through Sunday night.
“Everything was very positive, and I was very, extremely happy, actually, just to have this little shot in the arm (after) having a not so good summer,” said Sea Dip owner Jackie Hatley, who also sits on the Myrtle Beach City Council.
Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said the amount of visitor traffic the area saw over the weekend made her happy and that many people followed health and safety guidelines, including social distancing and wearing face masks when necessary.
“More people doesn’t always have to equal more cases when the people who are here are following the guidelines, when the businesses are following the guidelines,” Bethune said. “Our business community needs people to stay afloat.”
Myrtle Beach police have not responded to a request about the number of citations or arrests for health and safety violations over the weekend.
North Myrtle Beach officials said the city had not yet compiled public safety statistics from the holiday weekend. However, city spokesman Pat Dowling said one party, stretched across three boats, required police intervention three times late Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
Upon the third visit, the police informed the people involved of “the potential charges that would be levied against them if they did not end the partying for the night,” Dowling said. “There were no further incidents at the location” after this.
Bethune and the Myrtle Beach Hospitality Association also said the weekend saw more families than usual this time of year. Typically, with many schools in the Carolinas having gone back into session by now, New Englanders, young people and couples without children are the ones who flock to Myrtle Beach. But this year, with a delayed start to the school year and many doing online classes, families seem to have filled the gap, local officials said.
Business owners and the Hospitality Association said the weekend represented the balance the area had been hoping to strike: Bringing in more tourists — and more tourist spending — while doing as much as possible to prevent another outbreak of the coronavirus.
The Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce said last week much of the region is still reeling from the effects of being labeled a regional epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another outbreak would be devastating on the local economy, Chamber CEO Karen Riordan said.
The boon of tourist traffic did not spread equally across the Grand Strand, however.
If anything, the benefits of being close to the beach, hotels or other tourist attractions may have been heightened. Businesses in more convenient locations saw packed crowds each night, but those farther away, like Bummz Beach Cafe, owned by Bethune’s husband, sat practically empty.
Big Mike’s Soul Food was another business that didn’t necessarily see many benefits trickling down from the packed hotels. Business was still down compared to last year, owner Mike Chestnut said, and “nothing like it was before” the pandemic.
“It makes you wonder how things (will be for) fall the rest of the winter,” Chestnut said. “All you can do is just try to keep putting out good food and hope that people be safe and still come down and enjoy themselves.”
Bethune said the sparse crowds for some businesses also might be because people came to Myrtle Beach just to go to the beach.
“I think people are being more cautious when they travel,” she said. “I do think more people are coming here and cooking in their condos, wherever they are staying. I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”
With the delayed start to the school year finally upon much of the United States, some experts said they predict it could result in a drop in tourism as even families find it harder to venture far from home.
But there were a few signs of a better fall season than usual, Hospitality Association CEO Stephen Greene said. Beaches remained busy Monday, indicating that tourists were not rushing to get back home. He said this might be a result of the flexibility created by remote working and schooling.
On top of that, Greene said he has heard that some people, holed up indoors for months with little to do but work, have also been stocking up unused paid time off. With the end of the year quickly approaching, those days off could end up being spent in the fall, which traditionally sees a gradual slowdown of traffic for tourism everywhere until the winter holidays.
“Our fall season, this is some of the most beautiful weather you can imagine,” Greene said. “I see a lot of companies who are encouraging their staff to take time off because this has been going on a lot longer than anybody expected.”
As a result, people traditionally restricted from traveling during the fall and spring could find their way to South Carolina, bringing with them money to spend at businesses struggling to survive. The impact would be even bigger if states in the northeast reopen more or eliminate restrictions on traveling to other states.
“Our small business community is the fiber of Myrtle Beach, and many of them, like the Gay Dolphin, have been in business for decades,” Bethune said. ”Helping them is critical right now.”
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 2:21 PM.
