Business Notebook: Myrtle Beach Air Traffic up from September but Still Suffers

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (NOV. 16, 2001) - Local travel officials estimate that between 70 and 75 percent of visitors to the Grand Strand arrive by automobile. While this reliance on the car may clog major highways like 501 and U.S. 17, Myrtle Beach’s drive-based market may turn out to be its saving grace.

According to the Horry County Department of Airports records, passenger traffic at Myrtle Beach International Airport bounced back in October but was nearly 24 percent down from the same month in 2000.

Almost 103,000 people flew into or out of Myrtle Beach last month, down from about 135,000 in October of last year.

Airport traffic has taken a major hit in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent decline in travel. September's totals were off 30 percent, partially due to a two-day shutdown of the U.S. air fleet while airports and airlines improved security.

"It's returning, but it's going to take several months for it to get back to more normal levels," said Bob Kemp, director of Horry County airports in a recent statement. "You have to remember that we're comparing it to last year, which was a record year."

Kemp said traffic for 2000 was up 20 percent over 1999. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, one of the few carriers that didn't cut its schedule, saw an 8.3 percent increase in October traffic locally. The Delta Connection airline carried almost 25,000 through Myrtle Beach last month, compared with 22,600 in October 2000.

Myrtle Beach International lost 10 daily flights after the attacks. Before Sept. 11, there were as many as 36 daily departures.

US Airways cut two of its nine daily departures from Myrtle Beach to Charlotte, N.C. US Airways, Myrtle Beach's busiest carrier, saw its local traffic fall to about 38,000 in October. It carried 41,000 through Myrtle Beach's gates in September 2000.

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Spirit Airlines canceled daily flights to Newark, N.J., and Chicago. Continental Airlines also canceled its daily departure between Myrtle Beach and Cleveland.

In August, Myrtle Beach also lost nonstop service to Raleigh, N.C., when Midway Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection, and ultimately folded under the pressures of reduced bookings.

For the year, 1.26 million people have passed through Myrtle Beach's gates, down 8.7 percent from 1.38 million in the same period last year.

“As far as the golfing market goes, we are taking a bit of hit but we’ll be okay,” says Jerry McGraw, president of Carolina Golf and Travel. “This is primarily a drive market, and some golfers that used to fly from the northeast will drive here now. But I don’t think you’ll see too many folks canceling out on their entire trips.”

Possible reductions in golf rounds in the Grand Strand in October due to people’s apprehensions about flying have been offset by the recent weather. Patrick Crean, president of Magnolia Greens Plantation in Brunswick County says that his 27-hole Tom Jackson designed facility experienced an above average level of play last month.

“It has been 70 or 80 degrees everyday and it has been cool at night,” Crean says. “The people up north see this and they decide to get down here somehow, some way. The cool conditions at night have also put course conditions at an all time best around here.”

Brunswick to Host 2003 Tourism Conference

The N.C. Governor's Conference on Tourism has chosen Brunswick County to be host of its 2003 gathering. The county was chosen by the state's Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. The conference will be held April 6-8, 2003, at the Sea Trail Conference Center.

The 2002 conference will be in Greensboro, N.C. Domestic tourism in Brunswick County generated an economic impact of $243.5 million in 2000, according to the state Department of Commerce. In 2000, domestic and international travelers spent $12.6 billion across the state, a 6.5 percent increase over 1999.