Tourism initiative hopes to bring in new visitors

By: Michelle Carolla | SCNow
Published: September 14, 2009

The Grand Strand economy certainly hinges on tourism. The State Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism plans to work with area Chamber’s of Commerce to expand a tourism initiative. A few years back, a group from Harvard identified several possible ways South Carolina could grow its economic base. One of the areas identified was, of course, tourism.
It was thought a state-wide plan would best coordinate the efforts throughout the state.
Tourism Development International, Inc, a group based in Ireland will work with local groups such as the chambers, to create a regional plan. Businesses hope to cash-in on the plan.
Greg Hyman, owner of Hyman Vineyards in Conway hopes his connection with the tourism group will help grow his business. Hyman said advertising dollars are tough to come by and knowing where to spend them to get the most out of his investment is a challenge in this down economy. "What we're trying to do is validate our experience, our destination through this effort,” said Hyman.
Hyman is working with the Conway Chamber of Commerce as a stakeholder in the new regional tourism plan under development. The Conway chamber, along with chambers from Georgetown to Little River will work with TDI, Inc to develop a plan to draw new visitors the region.
"What we're here for is actually two-fold,” said Hyman. “One, the purpose of trying to get tourist here is of course to try to sell product and to brand ourselves and get word of mouth going, which is the best kind of marketing there is. We're also a pilot product for agri-tourism and value added product development in the state."
Because of the economy we've all had to step up,” said Bridgette Johnson, Executive Vice-President, Conway Chamber of Commerce. “Folks that would normally drive from feeder market areas to Myrtle Beach, which would see Conway on their way in to Myrtle Beach and say hey, I want to do a day-trip, now their doing day trips in their area. So, we're reaching together working to brand this area, not only to sell big blue, but to sell agri-historical aspects of our area people aren't familiar with."
Businesses like Hyman's will work serve as program stakeholders and work with consultants showing them the area and encourage others to join public forums to offer input into the program. In 2007, the state legislature appropriated money to develop this long-range plan for the North Coastal Counties Product Development Area, consisting of Horry and Georgetown counties. TDI, Inc will arrive in early October to start the research phase of the plan.