Posted on Fri, Nov. 10, 2006

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Analyst: Awareness, not image, problem for Myrtle Beach

Associated Press

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Myrtle Beach's problem isn't its image. Instead, travelers just aren't aware of it, a noted tourism researcher says.

For years, local tourism promoters have worried Myrtle Beach's "Redneck Riviera" image was keeping visitors away. Instead, people just don't know much about one of South Carolina's most popular tourism destinations, travel expert Peter Yesawich told a group of business leaders at the Myrtle Beach Marriott.

"You don't have an image problem - that is a powerful revelation," said Yesawich, president and CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell, one of the leading marketing companies for travel clients.

A recent survey suggested that more than half of people in the areas where Myrtle Beach advertises the most are at best slightly aware of the destination.

The Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce wants to attract more visitors to catch up to a building boom. The beach can now accommodate 20 million visitors a year, but only gets about 14 million tourists.

Yesawich suggests Myrtle Beach bombard its target market with ads that show what the area has to offer. A stronger presence on the Web also will help as more visitors use the Internet to decide where to travel.

"The strategy must be to open new markets," Yesawich said. "There seems to be a lack of knowledge about the diverse things you can do once you come to Myrtle Beach. You have to spend to get that."

Myrtle Beach currently spends about $2 million on advertising, while Virginia Beach, Va., one of its competitors, spends about $7.5 million, according to its Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"A lot more people will be seeing our ads this year," said Theda Jackson, marketing vice president for the Myrtle Beach Chamber. "We are prepared to market smarter and harder with what we have."