MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce says it’s spent millions of fewer dollars on advertising this year.
The chamber of commerce uses two money sources for advertising: accommodations taxes and the city’s tourism development fee (TDF). When there are fewer visitors on the Grand Strand, that means less money in those funds.
COVID-19 reduced summer tourism in Myrtle Beach and for hotels like Oceans One Resort, the great weather, but lingering pandemic, make this fall uncertain.
“Unfortunately, most of the events for the fall have been canceled,” said Ray Booth, general manager of Oceans One Resort. “We’re still seeing strong weekends. We expect to see that through most of October. During the week, it’s really down right now.”
The chamber of commerce says it spent $5,967,722 on advertising at the start of the pandemic, from April to June. Chamber CEO Karen Riordan says that’s 19% less than that same time period last year.
That’s mainly because there were fewer tourists.
“As collections are down, that means we have less dollars to work with,” said Riordan. “Collections began going down right away in March.”
Nearly all of that $5.9 million comes from the TDF ($5,731,334). The remaining $236,388 comes from accommodations taxes. The chamber has campaigns telling people they can come to beach “responsibly.”
Riordan says she believes they’re working.
“We have moved our money to the most efficient channels with digital, a lot of video, a lot of paid social media,” she said.
Fewer Americans feel safer traveling, which makes it harder for individual hotels to market themselves.
Booth says advertising Oceans One has been tough because the average daily rate (ADR) for rooms is lower.
“Every dollar you spend, when the ADR on the room goes down, that dollar is more of a percentage of the cost of the rooms,” he said. “It’s not as effective right now as it would be in a normal year.”
Riordan says advertising during the pandemic is not only about showing potential visitors how to have a safe beach vacation, but also to have them keep Myrtle Beach in mind when they feel ready to travel again.