If you advertise they will come: Grand Strand chambers launch tourism campaign
Making travelers, workers and locals feel safe enough to venture out after a month of coronavirus shutdowns is a vital step to restarting a local economy so heavily tied to tourism dollars.
The 2020 tourism season is underway as restrictions on hotels and restaurants lift, but as of now, it’s unclear if enough locals and travelers are confident it is safe to take a vacation.
“Right now marketing is showing there is interest, but they’re not ready to pull the trigger so to speak,” said Cheryl Kilday of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Representatives from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, local governments and business leaders discussed the challenges of salvaging the tourism season at Thursday’s Horry County Welcome Back meeting.
Emergency orders issued throughout the spring brought Horry County’s largest industry to a halt when hotels, restaurants and attractions were closed or severely limited in how they could operate. The Welcome Back committee aims to help support local business and improve an economy suffering greatly from the pandemic.
Horry County has had the second highest number of people seeking unemployment in the state with the tourism industry accounting for nearly 50 percent of local job opportunities, according to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.
MBACC’s Karen Riordan said her organization is beginning to market to potential tourists within a 350 mile driving distance. Kilday said her organization’s marketing strategy is similar to Myrtle Beach’s, but there will be advertisements to people as far away as Ohio.
Myrtle Beach is looking to South Carolina citizens to stay in the state for their summer vacation and for residents to do all they can to support local businesses who desperately need it.
“We also will be counting on South Carolinians to really support the Grand Strand,” she said. “Keep their money and their vacation time here with us as opposed to leaving the state and going somewhere else.”
There is a concern, however, that without the proper preventative measures, inviting tourists back to the area could lead to an outbreak within Myrtle Beach or that employees may be at an increased risk.
Riordan asked that every person and business follow public health guidelines to show visitors Horry County is doing all it can to welcome visitors in a safe way.
Recommendations include wearing masks, regularly sanitizing surfaces and quarantining immediately if you test positive for the virus.
In addition, having wide-spread testing and tracing could give travelers greater confidence in coming to a new area.
“Until we get adequate testing we are not going to have people feeling 100 percent comfortable with visiting the beach,” Rick Elliott of Elliott Realty said.
Currently, Horry County has not been sent the resources for rapid, wide-spread testing like some other areas of the state. The committee also discussed the need to ensure local businesses know if a patron who recently visited tested positive.
Even with the concerns, Elliott said for the first time since the pandemic began more people are making reservations for later in the summer than those canceling. He hopes this shows potential visitors are becoming more comfortable with making vacation plans for July and August.
Elliott would also like to see Myrtle Beach and Horry County resolve the hospitality fee lawsuit in an effort to get more funding towards helping the area recover.
A second priority for the Welcome Back committee is figuring out how to make the local economy less dependent on one industry. The collapse of the tourism industry has led to the local area being among the hardest hit in the state and country.
Currently, the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation helps recruit new businesses to open in Horry County. Horry County Assistant Administrator Barry Spivey said local governments could look at increased incentives to bring in new jobs, like relaxed business license fees.
“What are the hindrances that might be hindering growth within our area,” Spivey asked. “Incentives could be targeted toward certain types of businesses or just businesses in general that diversify our economy.”
Horry County Council Member Orton Bellamy said most of the protective equipment used in the U.S. comes from China. He believes the Myrtle Beach area has the capability to foster a larger manufacturing sector that could provide critically needed supplies locally and nationally.
Still the challenges moving forward are immense and wide-spread. Spivey said even though the economy is reopening, the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be a long-term economic issue in the area.
The Welcome Back committee will meet again next week. A survey will be sent out soon seeking public response on what needs must be met in an effort to receive more federal funding to help businesses and individuals recover.
“We developed a survey tool that will get us the information we need for HUD programs but also information needed to get some of those other dollars as well as guide our general approach to recovering from the pandemic,” said Courtney Frappaolo, Horry County’s community development director.
