MYRTLE BEACH -- The recession didn't get in the way of summer tourism along the Grand Strand this year. New numbers out Thursday show that while the number of tourists coming to town was up revenue was down.
Steve Chapman of Island Vista Resorts said that even in a gloomy economy this year's summer turned out to be a good one for his hotel, which he said has been around for just three years.
"Given that we had a push towards the end of the spring and into the early summer as far as booking we were very pleased,” said Chapman ,”we didn't really get the revenue we wanted, I think we all did more discounting and did less of raising our rates."
Taylor Damonte with Clay Brittain, Jr. Center for Resort Tourism said that the first half of the summer didn't look too busy, but added that it didn't last long. He said in the second half of the summer as the days got hotter more and more people started coming.
“Considering the entire summer compared to the entire summer of 2008 we are about even or perhaps as much as a half of 1% on occupancy,” explained Damonte.
Damonte said that while occupancy was up this summer prices were down by 4% to 6% meaning lower rates to attract tourist kept the revenue side down.
Even with revenue down this summer Damonte said that the the Grand Strand is still popular among tourists because, it's a short haul destination with reasonable prices, while hotels try to offer discounts on their rates.
"We might add another 5% to the discounts we are already offering and build on stuff that you already have many times which we've built on the system over the years because we are a seasonal destination," said Chapman.
“Our total visitation has not declined and there are a lot of destinations that would like to be able to say that right now,” Damonte said.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement