Myrtle Beach tourism promoters preparing for end of NAACP boycott after Confederate flag removed

The NAACP’s 15-year boycott that has hurt Grand Strand tourism will be lifted in a matter of days with the pending removal of the Confederate flag on Capitol grounds, but the recovery luring business back to the beach will take much longer, officials said.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, through an emergency resolution, will move to lift the tourism boycott during its national convention that starts Saturday in Philadelphia, national and state NACCP leaders said Thursday. The move comes as the state prepared to take down the flag Friday from the Capitol’s front lawn and move it to the Confederate Relic Room for display.

“We expect the boycott will be lifted in a matter of days,” NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks said Thursday. “I would imagine we would move expeditiously.”

Gov. Nikki Haley signed the flag bill Thursday, hours after an early morning House vote sent it to her desk. The killing of nine churchgoers during a Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston three weeks ago sparked the renewed debate over the Confederate flag on State House grounds that led to this week’s historic vote to remove it.

On Thursday, the NAACP announced the sanctions would end, the NCAA said it would again consider sites in South Carolina and Myrtle Beach tourism promoters were preparing a plan to go after the business that had been bypassing the beach because of the boycott.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce “will launch a full-on sales and promotional effort to reach those groups who have avoided us due to the boycott” once the NAACP sanctions are lifted, chamber president Brad Dean said.

“Once the NAACP boycott is lifted, our state’s tourism industry will benefit,” he said. “We don’t anticipate a huge influx of visitors immediately, but during the past 15 years we’ve regularly heard from groups and individuals that avoided the Myrtle Beach area because of our boycott, so hopefully this momentous decision sends a clear message to America that we understand history, value civil rights and welcome everyone.”

The NAACP boycott took effect in January 2000 urging lawmakers to remove the Confederate flag from its prominent position on the Capitol dome. The flag was moved to the nearby Confederate monument on the State House grounds, and the NAACP vowed to continue the boycott until the flag was moved from a place of sovereignty.

Neither NAACP leaders nor local tourism officials could say how much business the area and state has lost because of the boycott, but agreed it has had an affect. It cost the Grand Strand the ACC Baseball Championship in 2011-13, as well as family reunions, amateur sports competitions, corporate meetings and fraternal conferences, officials said.

“Here’s what we do know: In a state like South Carolina with its beaches...we know this boycott was impactful,” Brooks said.

But don’t expect to see a flurry of business rushing back to the Grand Strand just because the sanctions are being lifted. Many sports tournaments are booked for the next few years, and even when the boycott is over, the Grand Strand will have to compete with other cities for those events.

“Group business is invariably a long-term process, so any positive impact from the relocation of the Confederate flag will be gradual,” Dean said. “Bear in mind, the removal of the flag and lifting of the boycott would only enable us to compete for more groups. We still have to sell the destination and win the business.”

The NCAA said Thursday after Haley signed the bill that it would again consider South Carolina for its championships.

“We commend South Carolina lawmakers for taking this action to remove the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds,” said Kirk Schulz, NCAA board of governors chairman. “For nearly 15 years we have specifically protested the flag by not allowing states like South Carolina to host pre-selected NCAA championships. With this impending change, and consistent with our policy, South Carolina may bid to host future NCAA championships once the flag no longer flies at the State House grounds.”

Those are big-time events that have been skipping South Carolina, one of the examples given by Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, as to the boycott’s affect.

“South Carolina can now get some of those multi-million-dollar contracts,” he said.

Most of the promotions aiming to lure business back to South Carolina once the boycott ends will be done by destinations such as Myrtle Beach, not the S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism department, PRT Director Duane Parrish said.

Statewide, tourism had record years the past two years, and Parrish expects that trend to continue -- especially with any additional business with the boycott’s end.

“It can’t hurt,” Parrish said. “It certainly gives an opportunity for the state to host more events.”

Randolph expects the national board to move quickly during its convention this weekend to remove the sanctions.

“I know South Carolina is eager to get this off their back,” he said.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach tourism promoters preparing for end of NAACP boycott after Confederate flag removed."