The Myrtle Beach area, also known as South Carolina’s Grand Strand, is a 60-mile stretch of coastline. The Grand Strand begins at the state line at Little River (in Horry County) and stretches south through Pawleys Island (Georgetown County). Considered one of the nation’s top vacation destinations, the Grand Strand hosts more than 13 million visitors annually. Beautiful beaches and an array of attractions, entertainment theaters, shopping centers, restaurants and golf courses draws visitors throughout the year.

The Grand Strand has been showcased by regional, national and international media – both broadcast and print. In 2004-2005 the area was the locale for A&E’s “Knieval’s Wild Ride” and “Flip This House,” Travel Channel’s “Myrtle Beach Bike Week” and “America’s Best Beaches,” Warner Bros. Studio’s “elimiDATE” and Turner South’s “Blue Ribbon.” The destination also was featured in prestigious publications such as Southern Living, Golf Digest, USA Today, Cincinnati Enquirer, Budget Travel, Where to Retire, NWA World Traveler, Philadelphia Enquirer, Endless Vacation, Skylights, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Travel 50 & Beyond, Parents Magazine, Home & Away, Vacation Ownership, Golf Magazine, RV Gazette, Canadian Traveller, Toronto Sun, GolfStyle and many others; industry and trade publications including Successful Meetings, Meeting News, Meeting Professional, Convention South, Group Tour Magazine and Leisure Group Travel; and popular Web sites such as TravelGolf.com and EscapeHomes.com.

In addition, the Myrtle Beach area has received these positive national reviews:

Over the years Horry County’s population has been growing at a steady pace, and the county’s housing industry has moved rapidly, surpassing reported national trends in housing growth. County wide, commercial closing sales were up 51% compared with 2003, and the residential market continued to break sales records. A study by the Washington based National Association of Realtors showed that nearly one in four U.S. homes bought in 2004 was purchased for investment purposes.

During 2004, the housing market in Horry County continued to fare better than much of the nation. The number of new single-family residential permits increased by 26 percent from 2004. The number of multifamily permits decreased 59 percent from 2004.

The dollar value of single-family construction permits in 2003 increased 31 percent from 2001, while the dollar value of multifamily permits increased five percent in that same time period.

In 2004, 2,546 new residential building permits were issued in Horry County at a value of more than $486 million. That is a 16.84 percent increase over the 2,179 new residential building permits issued for the same time period in 2001, at a value of $405 million.

RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION PERMITS

There is currently no single source for determining the actual number of annual visitors to the Grand Strand. After reviewing the accommodations tax collections, average length of stay and the average daily room rate, the estimated number of visitors in 2004 was at 13.2 million.

VISITOR ORIGIN

In 2004, according to I-94 data at least 65,533 overseas travelers, excluding Canadians and Mexicans, visited South Carolina. Historical data indicates that two of South Carolina’s largest overseas visitor origin countries are Germany and the UK. According to I-94 data at least 12,009 German residents and 19,197 UK residents visited South Carolina. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries’ “In-flight Survey” estimates South Carolina’s total overseas visitation at around 163,000.

Along the Grand Strand, 22 percent of our visitors came from North Carolina in 2002. Another 36 percent traveled from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey. The following are the 2002 top 10 states of visitor inquiry origin: North Carolina, New York , Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New Jersey, and Maryland.

The leading origins of visitor inquiries have consistently been Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York and Virginia. The chamber receives almost 15,000 inquiries from foreign countries each year and more than 90 percent of those inquiries come from Canada. Other international inquiries come from England, Germany and Japan.

During 2004, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce responded to 189,564 visitor phone inquiries. Additionally, the chamber’s four office locations served 263,951 walk-in visitors. The Official Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand 501 Welcome Center had 19 percent of its visitors arrive without accommodation reservations.

The chamber also tracks the number of unique Internet visits (when an individual actually visits a Web site) and the number of pages viewed on the Web site. The chamber’s official Web site, MyrtleBeachInfo.com, recorded 2,960,860 unique visits and 8,253,252 page views in 2004. Additionally, the Web site received 284,591 inquiries in 2004, a 9.31% increase from 2003.

Sources: Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism

AIRPORT INFORMATION

The Horry County Department of Airports was created in November 1987 as an agency of Horry County. The director of the airports is appointed by the county administrator. There are four airports managed by the Horry County Department of Airports:

GRAND STRAND AIRPORT

Located within the city limits of North Myrtle Beach, this airport serves private and corporate aircraft with parking, refueling, maintenance and with full service, fixed-base operators. This is an ideal stop for people visiting the North Strand or transiting from the Northeast to farther South.

CONWAY-HORRY COUNTRY AIRPORT

MYRTLE BEACH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT COMMERCIAL PASSENGER TOTALS

MYRTLE BEACH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Located approximately one mile from the Atlantic Ocean in Myrtle Beach, the Myrtle Beach International Airport serves as the only commercial airport for Horry County and the Grand Strand. The airport is a full service airport including all Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.

Currently, Horry County is building a new 363,000 square foot terminal facility that is scheduled for completion February 2008. The three-level facility will include 14 aircraft parking positions including passenger boarding bridges that accommodate a wide mix of aircraft from commuter jet to wide body aircraft. Arrivals, baggage claim and ground transportation will be located on the first level while airline ticket counters and departures will be on the second level.

Source: Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and Myrtle Beach International Airport

Every quarter ACCRA compiles and publishes its Cost of Living Index, a comparison of the cost of living in more than 300 cities and areas across the country. Participating agencies such as chambers of commerce collect prices on nearly 60 different products and services. In an effort to control random error in the analysis of the data, agencies are expected to collect the same data at the same time for every quarter during the year.

Listed below are just a few examples of how Myrtle Beach compares with the rest of the nation. A composite index score of 100 is the national average.

Source: Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and ACCRA Cost of Living Index (data collected in January 2005)

The Grand Strand has seen steady growth in population in the past several decades. The growth in population has been evident in the increase of the number of residential construction starts and infrastructure development.

The Census Bureau completes population updates every two years for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). Horry County constitutes an MSA because the population of the area is greater than 100,000. The 2004 census estimates Horry County’s population at 217,608 for the 1,134 square miles of land area. Although Horry County is the largest in land area in South Carolina, its population accounts for approximately five percent of the state’s population.

HORRY COUNTY POPULATION

Today, almost one-fourth of South Carolina’s residents are over 55 years of age. Horry County is No. 1 among the top five regions in the state where retirees are relocating. In a 10-year period, the county’s population of 65 and over grew by 50 percent.

Gathering population information on the smaller communities in the area is a difficult task. Census figures shown below are the most recent figures available.

Sources: Myrtle Beach Chamber of  Commerce, 2005 S.C. Statistical Abstract, U.S. Census Bureau, South Carolina 2001 Labor Market Review and South Carolina State Budget & Control Board

Kings Highway began as an Indian trail long before Europeans settled along the Grand Strand. Later, this trail became the route from the northern states to Charleston and Savannah.

The area’s first inhabitants were the Waccamaw and Winyah Indians, who named the region Chicora, meaning “the land.”

Early attempts by European explorers to settle the Grand Strand were disastrous. Spaniard Lucas Vasques de Allyon founded the first colony in North America here in 1526, but the settlement was ravaged by disease and the inhabitants perished within a year.

English colonists formed Prince George Parish and laid out plans for Georgetown, the state’s third oldest city, in 1730. Surrounded by rivers and marshlands, Georgetown became the center of America’s colonial rice empire.

Before the Civil War, plantation owners turned Pawleys Island into one of the first summer resorts on the Atlantic coast. Historic beach cottages and other landmarks still stand.

Until the 1900s, the beaches of Horry County were virtually uninhabited due to the county’s geographical inaccessibility and poor economy.

Near the turn of the century, the Burroughs & Collins Company, a timber/turpentine firm with extensive beachfront holdings, began developing the resort potential of the Strand. In 1901, the company built the beach’s first hotel, the Seaside Inn. At that time, oceanfront lots sold for $25 and buyers received an extra lot if they built a house valued at $500 or more. The beach community was called New Town until the Horry Herald newspaper held a contest to name the area. Mrs. F.G. Burroughs, wife of the founder of Burroughs & Collins, won with the name Myrtle Beach, which she chose for the many wax myrtle trees growing wild along the shore.

In the 1920s, a group of businessmen began building an upscale resort called Arcady at the north end of the community. Arcady featured the present Pine Lakes International Country Club (home of the Strand’s first golf club and birthplace of Sports Illustrated) and the legendary Ocean Forest Hotel.

In 1936, the Intracoastal Waterway was opened to pleasure boats and commercial shipping. During the 1940s, the Air Force Base was established and used for training and coastal patrols during World War II. The base was closed in 1993. The Myrtle Beach Pavilion was built in 1949, followed closely by the installation of the historic band organ and carousel at that site.

Myrtle Beach was incorporated in 1938 and became a city in 1957.

Hurricane Hazel demolished buildings and trees along the Strand in 1954, clearing the way for new hotels and homes. During the rebuilding phase of the 1960s, a golf boom began, with new courses being built each year. The number of golf courses along the Grand Strand now totals around 115.

The Myrtle Beach Convention Center, which houses the S.C. Hall of Fame, opened in 1970.

During the ’70s, new construction in the area topped $75 million, and the population tripled.

In the 1970s and ’80s, construction of attractions, homes, retail shops and other amenities increased steadily, paving the way for another boom in the early ’90s. The Myrtle Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area is the 13th fastest growing area in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released in April 2001. The area grew 36.5 percent over the past decade.

Source: Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce