MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WPDE) - The busiest holiday of the tourism season is coming up, and visitors are already here enjoying the Grand Strand. Since the 4th of July falls on a Wednesday, hoteliers expect to see a boost in visitors for two weekends, instead of just one.
For many the holiday is a time for getaways, relaxing on the beach, and for Duane Greene of Columbia, a family reunion. He's staying at Springmaid Resort with about 200 family members from several states. "It offers so much for excitement for our young kids. Our young kids are just delighted to be here, and they're coming from New York City and Ohio, and they're saying we just want to be on the beach. We want to enjoy ourselves," says Greene.
So far, this year's tourism season has been good for many hotels along the Grand Strand. The trend is likely to continue with 90% occupancy expected for the holiday. Dr. Taylor Damonte with CCU's Center for Resort Tourism expects "nine days of full or close to full" for hotels.
"It works out really great this year with it falling in the middle of the week, because we're seeing busy weekends, the weekend before and the weekend after," says Scott Harvey, Assistant General Manager at the Clarion Hotel. "Right now we're getting there. We still have quite a few more rooms to book, but we're looking pretty hopeful that we're going to have a real good turnout this year."
Donald Hovis with Springmaid Resort adds, "Fourth of July is the biggest. It most certainly is in terms of capacity for five or six straight days of being sold out."
Cheaper gas is also helping hotels hoping to achieve sold out status. AAA Carolinas says about five percent more people in South Carolina and North Carolina are expected to hit the road for the holiday compared to last year.
"With gas being now under $2.90 a gallon, predominantly we see a lot of people from the Charlotte area, and gas up there is still around the $3.30 range, so it's about 40 cents cheaper than most everywhere else," says Hovis.
Dr. Damonte adds this years holiday numbers are on track to be the same or above last year's numbers.
Tourism funding may also get a boost. According to Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the state budget passed this week with all the tourism promotion provisions included. He says unless Governor Nikki Haley vetoes the matching grant provision, the Grand Strand stands a good chance of getting the most money they've ever received from the state.
