It's National Tourism Week and cities along the Grand Strand are going an extra step to thank visitors.

Myrtle Beach, Conway and Surfside Beach have all issued declarations honoring the week.

At the Conway Visitor Center Monday, those who stopped by got a chance to learn more about the Gullah culture. The Gullah people were freed slaves who settled along the coast from the Carolinas to Florida.

There is a move to preserve the culture through the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. 

Veronica Gerald, Ultimate Gullah, talked about its presence in the Conway community. It's just one of the special events the Visitor Center will host this week.

Betty Molnar is a the visitor center coordinator. "This week, of course, is a great chance to come out and really see what Conway does have to offer. We've had people here today, this is not only their first visit to Conway, so they are learning about the Gullah history, but they're also learning about the history of Conway," she said.

Tourism generates the majority of jobs in Horry and Georgetown counties.

In 2008, that included more than 33,000 jobs in accommodations and food services, more than 20,000 retail jobs and nearly 8,000 jobs in arts, entertainment and recreation.

Leading up to this week, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce created an advertising campaign about the benefits of tourism. Those ads were placed on billboards, in newspapers and magazines, as well as on television and radio stations.

National Travel and Tourism Week was established as National Tourism Week in 1983.