Myrtle Beach offers so much more than just the beach
It has been a while since Visit Myrtle Beach has done a mission to Canada, but the wait ended when a group of its top tourism executives arrived in Canada in early October, visiting both Toronto and Montreal “to let everybody know what’s happening down at the Beach.”
As Diane Charno, vice president, brand and communications, explained it in a conversation with Travel Courier: “Things have been building back up; we’ve been excited to welcome Canadians back, post-pandemic for a while now, but, you know, it has continued to evolve quite a bit, so, it was about time for us to get back up here.”
Timing is everything because there has certainly been a lot happening in Myrtle Beach over the past few years. Charno observed that Myrtle Beach did ‘pretty well’ during the pandemic and the destination has seen some significant investment in its hotel properties.
“We’ve seen more and more [hotel] flags, branded hotels, invest in the area, taking over some of our independent hotels,” she pointed out, continuing: “We have some new developments as well as improvements. We have over 80 properties that have been going through some sort of renovation or expansion.”
With 157,000 bedroom units spread across more than different properties, Charno is quick to point out that Myrtle Beach has a “very diverse product” when it comes to accommodation.
She points out that the destination has a lot of short term rentals (STRs), a lot of beach houses, and condos, along with traditional hotels.
As for business, Charno said simply: “It has been great,” before continuing: “Post pandemic, we were the fastest recovering destination from a hotel revenue perspective in the US and that’s kind of continued. That’s where we’ve seen more investments from all of these properties because we did so well – being the number one fastest recovering destination in the country.”
Today, Charno observed, things are “normalizing” and “evening out” following the destination’s rapid recovery, but she added that what we’ve seen continues to grow is a lot of the Group traffic and we’ve done really well [in that market segment].”
Turing to the Canadian market, Charno told TC that Myrtle Beach has had a long history with this country, pointing out that the destination has been hosting Can-Am Days for decades, and is currently gearing up for the 64th Annual Can-Am Days that are set for March 8 to March 16, 2025.
She observed: “We’ve been eager to welcome [Canadians] back with special festivals and events and we’ve always offered special discounts at that time of year, but it’s also great because many of our properties and attractions extend a lot of those rates even beyond Can Am Days.”
In fact, Charno told TC: “I’m always surprised at how many Canadian [license] plates we see at that time.”
She also pointed out that, year-to-date, Visa spend by Canadian visitors is up by 5%, while bookings for short term rentals have grown by around 6%; with the major portion of that spending happening during the Can-Am Days celebrations.
In this respect, Charno noted that “when I look at charts from when things started to open back up even three years ago, we saw things coming back and it has continued to grow both this year (2024) and last year (2023).”
With all the indicators showing positive, Denielle Van Dyke, manager, public relations for Visit Myrtle Beach, told TC that: “I think what a lot of Canadians love about our destination is just how accessible it is. It’s not as far to drive as Florida and we still have the beaches. We still have the amenities and things in our area and it’s just easier to get to.”
And while Porter Airlines has yet to make any announcements about its seasonal service to Myrtle Beach for the upcoming winter season, both Charno and Van Dyke are optimistic.
Charno, clearly aware of Porter’s expansion, made it clear that Visit Myrtle Beach would continue “talking with them and sharing some of the numbers and see if we can get them back as well as other non-stop service.”
While that conversation continues, Charno pointed out that Myrtle Beach is still “one quick connection away from Canada. There are lots of different options. In the States, we have over 50 non-stop markets.”
On the other hand, Charno said that the majority of visitors to Myrtle Beach drive there.
“Over 97% of people that come to Myrtle Beach drive. They like their cars. We’ve got 60 miles of beaches, whether they’re hitting all the beaches on the Grand Strand or golfing on one of 80 golf courses they like to have a vehicle with them.”
Yet the big part of the message that the Myrtle Beach mission brought with it to Canada was pretty simple: the Myrtle Beach that many people remember is changing and it is changing in a good way.
Certainly, all of the new hotel development has brought changes to the destination, but it is also expanding what it offers visitors.
There’s the Myrtle Beach Classic, a PGA Tour event that’s been added to those offerings. There’s also a new Mini-Golf Trail, a new Arts Trail and a new Beer Trail for visitors to explore.
But for travellers who want to go beyond the beach, so to speak, there are 14 communities that make up Myrtle Beach and each one of them offers visitors a different and unique experience.
And it should also be mentioned that along with the culinary offerings to be found along the beach itself, those 14 communities all offer their own unique culinary offerings.
As for Myrtle Beach’s unique selling point, Charno said: “I think a lot of places you go to, you’re going to get your traditional beach experience … but what we have is tons of attractions – it really is an entertainment district – over 1,000 attractions, world class shows. People love how much there is to do beyond the beach — we call it Beach Plus. You have something to please the whole family; something to please everyone.”
The fact that Myrtle Beach has an abundance of golf courses has been a big plus, with Charno telling TC that before the pandemic, golf around the world was declining in popularity, but is now seeing a resurgence.
That resurgence, Charno said, is driven by the fact that during the pandemic, people were looking for ways “to get outside in a safe way and they found that golf courses were great places to do it.”
Not surprisingly, Charno said it is a development “we love, because it has introduced a whole new generation to golf again and it has grown every year. And Myrtle Beach, being the golf capital of the world, with over 80 golf courses, has just been hugely popular.”
As for travel advisors, Charno said that Myrtle Beach is continuing to work at keeping them educated and informed about all of the new things happening in the destination.
She pointed out that golf has always been a “big thing” for packaged travel and for some of that growth in group business the destination is seeing, observing that: “I think the trade has been really helpful at putting some of those package groups together because we have a new group of people visiting. It’s great to hear that people are using agents again following the pandemic.”
Charno continued: “People have recognized the value of agents as people who know what’s happening and who have that insider perspective because people are overwhelmed. I think trusted agents can provide that really knowledgeable, insider perspective and they have that direct connection to us [at Visit Myrtle Beach]. We have a team of people ready to help them with that information as well.”
