With sunny days lasting well into December, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, offers an inviting escape for a magical holiday getaway. Visitors to the Grand Strand this winter will enjoy a mild climate that’s perfect for outdoor activities, beachside relaxation and an array of festive celebrations that include popular annual events and traditions.
Celebrate a spook-tacular October with thrilling activities and fun for all ages
In October, South Carolina’s Grand Strand becomes especially enchanting as it transforms into a Halloween haven where frightfully fun celebrations abound. From family-friendly trick-or-treating to spine-chilling haunted adventures, the Myrtle Beach area offers a cauldron of festive activities and events throughout the month, ensuring there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber and Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Winter and Holiday campaign positions Myrtle Beach as the ideal year-round destination with engaging experiences outside of the beach, including during the holiday season.
The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber and Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Fall campaign captures the essence of showcasing the best The Beach has to offer. A niche focus of the campaign will be on culinary experiences and live music.
After a highly successful summer and fall tourism season in Myrtle Beach that placed the South Carolina destination among the ranks of Orlando, Las Vegas and New York City in terms of visitor demand – as noted by TripAdvisor, Expedia and others – the coastal hot spot is now preparing for a holiday season like no other.
Annual research results for the Brittain Center’s voluntary sample of hotel, condo-hotel, and campsites (HC-HCs) in the Myrtle Beach area are reported in the table below, along with the results of the Center’s scientifically random sample of weekly-rented vacation rental properties (VRPs), during the most recent six years.
It was pointed out by researchers on this page last year, though it now seems like an understatement to say, that fall can be a tricky season for lodging businesses along the Grand Strand. During years 2013 and 2014 no named stormed passed near the Carolinas, but during 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the area experienced major disruptions stemming from Hurricanes Joaquin, Matthew, Irma, and Florence respectively. Read more about this latest impact to the Myrtle Beach area.
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.
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.
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.
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.
