Disaster without a timeline: Why the Strand’s economy will struggle after coronavirus
The Myrtle Beach area has faced disasters from wildfires to hurricanes to floods, but the coronavirus has presented challenges to the tourism industry that currently have no end date in sight.
Grocery stores are constantly rushing to restock. Cancellations at hotels and attractions for April and May are already making this a months-long struggle. Businesses are required to change how they operate, with some closing down for an undetermined amount of time.
It is still too early to calculate the true, total economic impact of these closures, but Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Karen Riordan said how businesses usually handle disasters is not applicable to what’s happening now.
“Most businesses in this area know what to expect before, during and after a hurricane simply because of their experience with previous storms. This pandemic is an unprecedented event, not just for Myrtle Beach but for the entire country,” Riordan wrote in an email.
At a news conference earlier this week, Horry County Public Safety Assistant Administrator Randy Webster said planning for this disaster has presented new challenges as the timeline and impacts remain unclear even several days into the disaster.
“This is a most unprecedented event, one that I’m not sure we’ve ever seen,” Webster said. “We don’t have a forecast, we don’t have an idea how bad the impacts might be. We don’t have a timeline we might have in a hurricane.”
Even if coronavirus miraculously disappeared tomorrow, the impact won’t be limited to the lifespan of the pandemic due to tourists not knowing when travel will be safe again and canceling in advance.
Specifically for Myrtle Beach, springtime is when many youth sports tournaments bring in thousands of tourists coming to cheer on their local teams. Sports tourism has become an economic driver in the early parts of spring.
But many of those groups have canceled as schools have closed and professional athletics postponed seasons.
Myrtle Beach Spokesperson Mark Kruea said the impact of these cancellations is already extending the harm coronavirus is causing well into the future.
“We’re in uncharted territories,” he said. “We’ve lost events well into April at this point just based off the uncertainty. Tens of thousands of people have canceled, and in a few cases, have rescheduled.”
The American Hotel & Lodging Association outlined a grim picture if the hospitality industry is unable to operate due to quarantining and restriction on travel. Across the country and in Myrtle Beach, hotels have seen a dramatic decline in business.
“The losses for the travel industry alone are projected to double the unemployment rate over the next two months and plunge the country into recession,” said Roger Dow, President of U.S. Travel Association President.
When sporting events cancel and teams don’t come, that also means they cancel hotels and other activities planned in the city.
The decision to cancel isn’t an easy one, Kruea said, adding how hard the kids work to be able to compete in these spring tournaments. The city is working to get refunds to tournaments that paid a deposit to use city facilities.
And the odds of rescheduling these tournaments and making up all the lost revenue after the pandemic ends is unlikely.
Some tournaments and events are trying to reschedule in the fall, like the annual dragon boat show in The Market Common. But Kruea said the city is running out of space to fit everyone in.
“Our calendar is so full there is not a lot of extra space,” Kruea said. “I doubt seriously we will be able to reschedule for all them.”
