The reputation as the “Redneck Riviera” won’t cut it for S.C. tourism anymore.

Promoters of the state’s $14.6 billion tourism industry are working harder than ever to shed the Average Joe image that built destinations such as the Grand Strand, but at the same time promising not to alienate those core visitors.

Gov. Mark Sanford on Thursday, applauded the state’s new effort to tap the upper-end market, including an ad campaign unveiled Wednesday targeting affluent women.

“That doesn’t mean that the other market disappears. That market will always be there,” Sanford said. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.”

Sanford spoke during the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Travel in Myrtle Beach. He urged the 650 attendees to come up with “out-of-the-box” ideas to tap tourism’s growth potential.

With attributes such as the beaches, mountains and rural offerings, tourism is poised for tremendous growth with fewer obstacles than other industries, especially textiles, Sanford said.

“We have God-given, natural competitiveness on this front that isn’t going away,” he said.

Sanford brainstormed with about 20 leaders ideas designed to get tourists spending more.

South Carolina makes $262 from each visitor, well below the $464 national average.

The S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism department — the state’s main tourism promoter — wants to raise that average by 10 percent to $288 by the end of the year.

Spending will increase once visitors see the state differently and set aside the notion that it is still the “Redneck Riviera,” said Roy Williams, an advertising expert who was the conference’s keynote speaker.

“That’s why people are spending $262 in South Carolina,” Williams said during the small group meeting with Sanford. “That’s what has to be changed, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”

Officials chuckled when former PRT director Buddy Jennings reminded them that the top attraction in 1969 was South of the Border, a mix of knickknacks, pink flamingos and fairlike amusements on a half-mile stretch in Dillon County created to be tacky.

Travelers don’t necessarily know that the state has higher-end offerings, Williams said.

“This isn’t yesterday’s South Carolina,” he said.

Destinations have a limited amount of advertising dollars, money they feel compelled to spend on markets they know will work, said Woody Crosby of Jordan Properties in Myrtle Beach. For the Grand Strand, that’s folks wanting an affordable getaway.

“We are talking about changing our image here,” Crosby said. “If we are going to demand a different clientele ... it takes time to do that.”

The Grand Strand has added more high-end offerings in recent years.

“There is no doubt the ‘Redneck Riviera has grown up,” Shep Guyton, chairman of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, said.

Other ideas pitched during the small group meeting included pursuing convention business, luring aging baby boomers and creating lodging-attraction packages to lengthen visitors’ stays by giving them more to do. Williams urged PRT director Chad Prosser to hire a full-time worker focused on getting exposure on national television shows.

The conference ends today with customer service training for hospitality workers.