South Myrtle is Going for Broke – Leaders misunderstand market

When South Myrtle Beach attempted to cancel the motorcycle rallies that added hundreds of millions of dollars in to their economy each year, they over looked one thing. How will they replace the income generated from these events?

Apparently, the South Myrtle Beach Government thought they could simply release a few promotional press releases and people would come flocking to the beach right? Wrong!

What the South Myrtle Beach Government failed to realize is that most if not all of the tourism generated by the two biker rallies “Black Bike Week, and Harley bike week” was done by word of mouth. The Myrtle Beach government didn’t have to spend a single dime in promotions or advertising to get tourist to their beaches during one of the most competitive tourist season or the year, matter of fact biker fought to come to the beach even when the government didn’t want them “we literally forced South Myrtle Beach to take our tourism dollars”.

Now without the biker rallies, the South Myrtle Beach Government is learning that tourist arent as easy to get as they expected. Now South Myrtle Beach is competing with the likes of Vegas, Miami, and hundreds of other destination for tourist dollars. The South Myrtle Beach Government was spoiled by the annual biker rallies they didn’t anticipate the competition for tourist dollar LOL.

The Myrtle Beach Government has really hung it’s self with this one LOL.

They let a few rich golfer retirees, some of whom aren’t even from South Myrtle Beach “they choose Myrtle Beach as a retirement home influence their public policy. Now the rich retirees have what they want, but the hard working resident of South Myrtle Beach are losing out. Don Schunk from Coastal Carolina says “local business activity is down 23 percent along the Grand Strand, and it seems that the retirees in Myrtle Beach could care less. With an unemployment rate of 16.5 percent, the hard working people of Horry County sure could use the hundreds of millions that the bikers spent annually.

Matt Strubel from TheSunNew says: We (South Myrtle Beach) have a local business community that is more divided then ever, and a leadership that hasn’t a clue how to enhance our brand image as a tourist destination.

South Myrtle Beach failed to realize these facts:

  1. Harley Week is over 80 years old
  2. Black Bike Week is over 30 years old
  3. Both of those event spread virtually through word of mouth “the best form of advertising known to man, and no PR commercial can compete with that”
  4. Both events took years to grow to their current number
  5. Both Events have heritage and community “which equals loyal yearly tourism income”

The Myrtle Beach government will never be able to recreate the likes of the two biker rallies not in at least 20 years. And any attempt of a new event won’t be a yearly event, but an artificial event.

South Myrtle Beach is on the rebound, but secretly she wants that old thing back, cause we were the best she ever had!!! But we on to the next one!!!

We in North Myrtle Beach and Atlantic Beach now!!

South Myrtle Beach has officially been renamed to: MC Hammer Beach, SC

Sources: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/03/31/1396219/leaders-misunderstand-market.html#ixzz0jor7S0KM

Tags: Black Bike Week, ,

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