Industry Research

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The Myrtle Beach area visitor industry is the largest industry in the Grand Strand, and therefore critical to the region's economy supporting businesses, jobs and quality of life for residents and visitors alike.

This research presented here is intended to help you plan, manage and grow your business. We will update this information periodically so please check back again.

Email requests or questions regarding any of the research below to research@visitmyrtlebeach.com.

fast facts

Visitors

How many annual visitors?

  • 17.6 million (2022 estimate per D.K. Shifflet)

How many passengers through Myrtle Beach International Airport?

  • Enplanements: 1,684,979 (2023)

  • Deplanements: 1,592,585 (2023)

  • Enplanements: 1,730,000 (2022)

  • Deplanements: 1,720,000 (2022)

  • Enplanements: 1,606,137 (2021)

  • Deplanements: 1,604,110 (2021)

  • Enplanements: 557,603 (2020 pandemic)

  • Deplanements: 556,217 (2020 pandemic)

  • Enplanements: 1,304,395 (2019)

  • Deplanements: 1,307,168 (2019)

Golf

How many golf courses?

  • Approximately 90+ (2023)

How many rounds of golf played annually?

  • Approximately 2.8 million (2023 estimate)

    • 2,759,796

How many miniature golf courses?

  • Over 50

Dining & Attractions

How many full-service restaurants?

  • Approximately 2000+ full-service restaurants
    (in Horry & Georgetown counties)

How many live entertainment theaters?

  • 7 with approximately 7,500 seats

How many outlet stores?

  • Over 300

Accommodations

How many hotels?

  • Approximately 425 with 159,000 Room Units

  • Average Occupancy Rate

    • 55% (2023 per STR)

      • STR tracks lodging metrics for more traditional and flagship hotels and does not track lodging information for rental properties.

    • 53% (2023 per KeyData)

      • KeyData tracks lodging metrics for rental properties using AriBnB listings, VRBO listings, and data from participating rental companies.

How many rooms for rent during peak season?

ECONOMIC IMPACT & INFRASTRUCTURE

What is the local economic impact of tourism?

  • There was $11.95 billion in direct visitor spending in 2022, up 10.6 percent increase from 2021. (source: DK Shifflet Visitor Volume and Spending Study).

  • Previously, Coastal Carolina University estimates that locally, tourism provided more than $11.1 billion dollars in economic impact annually with another $2.2 billion in labor impact.

What is the tax impact to Horry County?

  • Accommodation Taxes: $32.26 million (2022)

  • Hospitality Fee: $56.5 million (Horry County only)

What is the latest infrastructure development update?

  • Ride III will be a continuation of Ride I & II; funding is slated to be close to $592 million, and will address projects including:

    • U.S. Hwy. 501 Corridor improvements

    • Pave/resurface miles of County dirt roads

    • Carolina Forest Boulevard Widening

    • Palmetto Pointe Blvd. Ext. to SC Hwy. 544

    • SC Hwy. 9 East Widening (Loris)

    • Resurface city roads

    • US Hwy. 701 N Widening

    • Fred Nash Blvd. connection to Harrelson Blvd. – Myrtle Beach

    • US Hwy. 17 Business Intersection Improvements - Garden City

    • Forestbrook Road Widening

    • Conway Perimeter Road Phase II

    • Southern Evacuation Lifeline (SELL)

    • SC Hwy. 31 (Carolina Bays Parkway) Extension To SC/NC State line

economic impact of tourism

Local

Tourism continues to foster significant economic benefit for the Myrtle Beach area and Horry County. According to the most recent visitor spending data available:

  • Coastal Carolina University estimates tourism accounts for a $7 billion total economic impact and another $2.2 billion in labor impact supporting more than 80,000 jobs throughout the Grand Strand.

    • Economists estimate that 80 percent of local tourism jobs are year-round, full-time.

    • Horry County Hospitality Fee generated approximately $56.5 million in tax collections in 2022. (source: Horry County Government).

    • Horry County generated more than $21 million in accommodations taxes in 2018, approximately 30% of the state’s total accommodations tax collections (source: S.C. Department of Revenue).

  • Visit Myrtle Beach marketing programs influenced $862 million in visitor spending in 2019.

  • The visitor spending influenced by Visit Myrtle Beach generated $145 million in state and local tax revenue in 2019 and supported $1.0 billion in business sales.

  • According to recent industry research by DK Shifflet, 17.6 million visitors spent $11.95 billion in 2022.

  • The $4.5 billion in visitor spending in 2019 was up from $3.5 billion in 2012 – a 31 percent increase in seven years.

  • In addition, visitor spending in Horry County increased 62 percent from 2009 to 2018, faster than spending in Hilton Head which increased by 55 percent during the same time period.

For more information regarding the economic impact of tourism on the Grand Strand, click here.

Additional information from Coastal Carolina University is available here.

State

South Carolina is blessed with an abundance of natural and man-made gifts – historic cities that attract visitors from all over the world, pristine beaches that stretch for hundreds of miles, small towns that offer a unique glimpse into days gone by, blackwater rivers for a peaceful day of kayaking or canoeing, and spectacular golf courses that wow the avid amateur and challenge the best touring pros. Those gifts and more helped fuel a seasonal business called tourism and turned it into a powerhouse that now ranks as the state’s number one industry. Learn more about South Carolina Parks Recreation and Tourism agency in the following video and reports below.

A recent study prepared for the South Carolina Parks Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) agency by the United States Travel Association revealed that domestic travel accounted for a direct economic impact of more than $15.1 billion and directly supported 133,500 jobs in 2019. Key findings from that study include:

  • Domestic travel-supported employees in South Carolina earned close to $2.9 billion in payroll income during 2019. This represented a 6.1 percent increase from 2018.

  • In 2019, every $113,417 spent by domestic travelers in South Carolina supported one job.

  • Domestic traveler spending in South Carolina directly generated $2.2 billion in tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments in 2019, up 5.8 percent from 2018.

  • Horry County received $4.8 billion in domestic travel expenditures to lead all of South Carolina’s 46 counties.

  • Seventeen of South Carolina’s 46 counties received over $100 million in domestic travel expenditures in 2019.

  • Sixteen counties in South Carolina indicated one thousand or more jobs were directly supported by domestic travelers during 2019.

National

Travel is essential to driving economic growth and job creation in the states, destinations and communities across America. and it is indispensable to our nations global competitiveness. Travel accounted for $1.2 TRILLION in direct spending in 2022 - which produced an economic footprint of $2.6 TRILLION - a return to 2019 levels. In 2022, travel supported nearly 15 million American workers and directly employed 8 million. The economic and job growth was largely due to the robust return of domestic leisure travel, which far outpaced the recovery of business travel and international travel segments.

For more information on the US Travel and it’s 2022 Economic Impact, click here.

research reports