Prior to Hurricane Florence, 2018 seemed to be turning out to be a normal year for tourism along the Grand Strand. The researchers in the Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism and the Grant Center for Real Estate and Economic Development estimate the year-to-date lodging business performance as of Sept. 8, 2018, along with the most recent five years.
Analysis of Lodging Demand during the Peak of the Tourist Season, 2013-2018
Along the Grand Strand, the peak of the tourist season occurs each year between the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August. The Center tracks lodging demand in two different ways. The business performance of the nightly rented hotels, condo-hotels and campsites (HC-HCs) is estimated with the assistance of lodging properties that voluntarily provide their daily performance records to the Center. The business performance of the weekly rented vacation rental properties (VRPs) is estimated by observing the booking status and advertised rental prices on the reservation websites of a scientifically random sample of rental properties. The table below reflects lodging demand during this period across the most recent six years.
Moving 52-week average revenue per available lodging unit trend lines rebounding in summer
Myrtle Beach International Airport Breaks Record
Grand Strand Lodging Business Performance in First Half of 2018
Early Spring Tourist Season Performance
Tourist Tax Dollars At Work
Did you ever wonder how our tourism tax dollars are spent? The Myrtle Beach area is one of the nation’s busiest tourist destinations with over 18 million visitors coming to the Grand Strand in 2016. Those tourists stay in our hotels and beach houses, eat at our restaurants, shop in our stores, and spend money at golf courses, attractions and more. Every purchase our tourists make are taxed. In fact, in 2016, tourists paid almost $323 million in taxes. Did you ever wonder how those taxes are spent? Watch the video to learn more.
Things Keep Looking Up for MYR
With so much exciting news at the Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR), Kirk Lovell shared a summary of the growth over the last few years. In 2013, Horry County Department of Airports (HCDA) developed and executed the Grand Strand’s air service development strategy. Since implementation momentum has been building.
Snowbird Season Stable
February 2018 Passenger Volumes Up 9 Percent
CCU Hospitality Update March 2018
Average Lodging Occupancy and Rental Prices Up in 2017
Airport Visitors Center Welcomes Record Number of Travelers
The Official Myrtle Beach Area Airport Welcome Center, operated by Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, greeted a record number of tourists this past year. Almost nine times as many visitors stopped by the chamber’s welcome center at the Myrtle Beach International Airport in 2017 compared to 2016.