Myrtle Beach Season Ends
Myrtle Beach Must Address Ocean Pollution To Have a Successful 2017
What has historically been the last big weekend of the Myrtle Beach season ends today Sunday, August 14th. The weekend turned out to be one of the busiest of the entire summer.
With final 2016 numbers now coming in, MyrtleBeachSC.com can report that the cities of Surfside, Garden City, Litchfield and Pawleys Island did very well Summer 2016.
The city of North Myrtle Beach experienced a flat year. City of North Myrtle Beach leaders we spoke with said they believed many tourists confused the City of North Myrtle Beach’s brand with many of the ongoing problems associated with the city of Myrtle Beach. North Myrtle Beach is an entirely different city altogether. Marketing experts call the unfortunate misunderstanding that tourists have in differentiating the two cities “brand confusion”.
MyrtleBeachSC.com does plan to implement better reporting strategies over the coming Fall and Winter to help tourists better identify and differentiate the city of North Myrtle Beach from Myrtle Beach. We also hope to meet with city of North Myrtle Beach leaders so as to work with them in helping tourists identify the consistent excellence the town models in hosting visiting guests.
The City of Myrtle Beach continues to under-perform its sister cities. While the numbers are still coming in from actual condo owners, it does appear that Myrtle Beach will be down a minimum of 2 million tourists in 2016. Critics of the city say that leaders, including the mayor and Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President, Brad Dean have put cash and greed ahead of community and tourist concerns. Tourists continue to report to us they see the downtown area as dated and crime ridden. Poor ocean water quality was the key concern in 2016. The next most common critique of city leadership was its choice in ending free parking in the Golden Mile section of Myrtle Beach. This decision has lead to a county wide boycott of the city.
MyrtleBeachSC.com believes the root of most city of Myrtle Beach problems have surfaced because elected officials choose largely to serve the interests of only two local corporations. Perhaps Fall 2016 will be the year when Myrtle Beach elected officials will reboot for 2017 and begin to work and serve the needs of small business owners, tourists, the environment, and local residents above these select few elites.
Whatever these leaders may choose, measuring the returns from the over $40 million in total tax funds paid to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber, it is clear that the current strategies employed by this group are not working.
The most pressing issues facing Myrtle Beach city government in 2017 are these ocean drainage areas which have had bacteria spikes this past summer that were as much as 40 times above unsafe for swimming.
In 2017, we will see if our city leaders choose to put their attention on correcting spiking bacteria issues along our beachfront. Tourists have told us ongoing that this is the issue they care about most.
If 2017 is to be a success, this issue has to be put ahead of handing Mr. Dean another $40 million.
