WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsGrand Strand looks for Thanksgiving visitors

Grand Strand looks for Thanksgiving visitors

By Kyle Grainger - bio | email

MYRTLE BEACH, SC  (WMBF) – Millions of Americans are expected to travel this week, and the Grand Strand hopes many will decide to see what Thanksgiving in South Carolina is like.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has just ended a five-week marketing campaign for the Grand Strand and say they've seen an increase in the number of people interested in visiting the destination.

Scott Schult, executive director of marketing, says phone calls and web traffic are up. Phone calls increased by 1,000 percent and website unique visitors were up 100 percent over the same time period as last year.

 "We were not able to generate a lot of interest in the Myrtle Beach area last year because we were not out in the marketplace advertising the destination. So what we're really doing right now is laying the foundation planting the seed for future travel," said Schult.

Schult says targeting drivers in a regional distance are those who'll most likely visit the Grand Strand, and there's a lot to share with them here.  

"We're still predominately a drive destination, although this next year we're really going to work on our fly markets. We align for that regional close drive visitation," he added.

Coastal Carolina University's Center for Resort Tourism says the past few weeks have had more visitors to the area.  Their weekly report shows vacation rentals up by 4.5 percent over last year. 

Gary Loftus, director of the BB&T Center for Economic and Community Development, says last year occupancy during the week ran over 50 percent and he expects that may go up this year.

"Maybe more this year," said Loftus.  "Gas prices are working against us with it being about 50 cents higher."

For a look at activity over the past few weeks and a forecast for the next few weeks, visit the link to the right of the story.

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