For years, the Grand Strand has had one of the most consistently solid economies in the country, but economists still rate it less-than-perfect because of its heavy reliance on a single industry: tourism.

That industry is the economic backbone of the Grand Strand, with an estimated $4.9 billion annual impact. About 70 percent of the area's labor force works in tourism-related jobs, serving about 13.7 million visitors annually.

Although tourism has helped the Strand fare better than other areas during recent economic downturns, local leaders say the economy needs to be better diversified to improve wages, quality of life and help the area sustain unforeseen events that could hinder tourism, such as a hurricane.

"If the tourism economy is hurt because of national recession or war, then the area's economy takes a pretty big hit," said Al Parish, an economist with Charleston Southern University. "If you have broader industries and one gets hit, then you have something else to fall back on."

The Policom Corp., an economic analysis firm, has been ranking 318 metropolitan areas nationwide for the past seven years. The Myrtle Beach metro area, which includes all of Horry County, has consistently ranked in the top third of the survey, 60th in 2002.

But the area has received an A- rather than an A in six of those seven years because of its lower-than-average wages.

Those low wages don't always tell the whole story because they don't include the higher income of this area's growing retiree population. Also, tips are common in service jobs and often are underreported, officials said.

Most business leaders agree there's a need for diversification, but many officials say the strength, and diversity, of the tourism industry shouldn't be taken lightly.

The industry has helped attract buyers for the $1 billion real estate market, spurred enough growth to lure an increasing number of national chains and is forecasted to push gross annual sales in Horry County to $65 billion by 2025, about 10 times the current rate.

"Let's don't lose sight that the tourism economy helped create ... possibly one of the most sound economies anywhere," said Joe Woodle, president of Partners Economic Development Corp., Horry County's main industrial recruitment arm. "There are a lot of people in accounting, marketing, management, supervision and sales that make a very healthy living off a tourism economy."

Though less susceptible to national recessions than elsewhere because of its affordability and high percentage of drive-in visitors, the Grand Strand's economy has not gone unscathed.

A series of layoffs last year left at least 2,000 people without work, including 600 at AVX Corp., about 525 at Cooper Wiring, 65 at Conbraco and 134 at Insteel Wire Products.

And although tourism continues to be the economic driver, it has become stagnant in recent years. The number of hotel rooms and attractions has increased, but the number of visitors to the area hasn't grown at the same rate.

"We need diversification," said Ashby Ward, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. "Maybe with better transportation and a healthier economy, we will begin to see more diversification."

Many analysts think the cost of living along the coast is rising faster than wage increases. Should that trend continue, it would push workers farther inland by making it more difficult to afford housing. That could strain an already-burdened transportation system and stretch the ability of businesses and municipalities to provide quality goods and services.

"The more diverse it is, the less adverse it is to outside economic [stimulus]," Woodle said.

But the creation of a diversified economy remains elusive for several reasons.

There is a lack of skilled workers because, for decades, South Carolina prospered with textile and other industries that didn't rely on skilled labor and had no incentive to push for specialization, officials said.

The push is on now. About 25 percent of the nation's jobs through the 1980s required special skills or a college degree, analysts said. That number has more than tripled since then.

Other obstacles include the overwhelming presence of tourism, which limits what kinds of industry would be suitable for a resort town. The high cost of land east of the Intracoastal Waterway makes it unattractive for many industries. The national economic uncertainty has forced many companies to hesitate before making large capital investments. And international competition for industrial jobs is growing fiercer every year.

But at the top of the list is the lack of direct interstate access. The Myrtle Beach market ranks fifth-strongest out of the 19 metropolitan economies in the Carolinas analyzed by Policom Corp. The top four - Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, Wilmington and Charlotte in North Carolina and Columbia in South Carolina - all have direct interstate access.

Internal infrastructure improvements are paying dividends. The ongoing $1 billion in area road projects has opened up the Strand for increased residential and commercial development. But the lack of an interstate keeps the Grand Strand off the radar of many industrial companies looking to relocate or expand. They often don't visit or even consider cities without such access.

"There are a lot of industries that say they want to be on an interstate," said Al Burns, Georgetown County's director of planning and economic development. "We've got to break them of that. It's not critical."

For the past decade, there have been plans to build an interstate, which would stretch from the Myrtle Beach area to Detroit. But there has been no money for the project, which today is largely nothing more than a series of signs along area highways touting the long-dreamed-of Interstate 73.

Legislators in recent years have been pushing for completion of the interstate. They have considered having new roads such as Veterans Highway and the Carolina Bays Parkway designated as part of a future I-73, and, in recent months, state legislators have begun formal attempts to get funding for the interstate.

An interstate coming to the Myrtle Beach area is closer to reality than ever, officials said, particularly considering the Strand's increased political clout with the recent appointment of area leaders to influential state Cabinet positions.

But until the interstate becomes a reality, planners have to find other ways to attract industry, Burns said. Counties need to fill existing buildings and have industrial sites - loaded with the necessary infrastructure - ready when the economy breaks loose and enters a solid recovery, he said.

Georgetown recently had a ribbon-cutting for the first building at its new industrial park. Replacing the jobs lost in that area during the past two years is vital, Georgetown officials said, and luring stable industry to the area is key.

"One of the ways around [no interstate access] is relationship building," Burns said, meaning existing industries must be used to target and attract new industries.

Horry County is making some of the same moves. Partners is working to complete the infrastructure at its latest park, the Aynor Super Industrial Park.

But the difficulty Partners has had filling the Aynor park almost a year after its groundbreaking illustrates the tenuousness of the overall economy. That park is within a 40-minute drive of an interstate, and sites will be free for those companies bringing high-paying jobs. Still, the first tenant has yet to be identified.

Officials all along the Grand Strand are gearing up advertising campaigns for targeted markets, hoping to bring more high-tech, light industrial jobs in the fields of technology, communications and pharmaceuticals.

And area organizations are banding together to increase the skilled labor pool. Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Horry County Schools, Partners and the Fortune Academy of Real Estate are designing programs that assess the needs of existing and potential companies and build educational curriculum around them.

And the growth and impact of local institutions expanding, such as the Georgetown Hospital System and the two area colleges, shouldn't be underestimated, said John Draughn, a commercial real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Chicora.

"The college has grown like crazy, the Georgetown hospital has just driven up property values like we've never seen before," he said. "They diversify the economy. Still, we are addicted to tourism."