Thank You for Visiting!

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

~ St. Augustine

National Tourism Week

National Tourism Week, May 10-18, 2008, is a time to celebrate the value of travel and spread the word about tourism. Last year, nearly 14 million visitors came to the Grand Strand spending over $4 billion.

Not only during the month of May but throughout our Sun Fun Festival–A Celebration of Summer, we’ll be recognizing the importance of tourism in our community. Our summerlong festivities, which start June 5-9 with the Sun

Fun Festival and wrap up with the Beach, Boogie & BBQ Festival on Aug. 29-30, is the perfect time to extend a warm welcome to our visitors. Join us as we put out the welcome mat at Grand Strand’s front door. Let’s give a big “Thank You” to all our visitors who help to make the Grand Strand a place known for wonderful dining, abundant shopping and extraordinary entertainment.

Feel free to use the Thank You for Visiting artwork on stationery, business flyers or in other areas of your workplace.

Click on logo below to download for Web use.

Click here to download PDF for print use.

Did You Know?

National Tourism Week was first established by Congress as National Tourism Week in 1983 to increase awareness of the travel and tourism industry's economic, social, and cultural contributions to the United States. This annual event is sponsored by the Travel Industry Association and commemorated by states, cities and organizations across the nation. The goal of NTW is to highlight the powerful economic, social and cultural impacts of travel through events and celebrations.

By the Number – 2007

• $15.4 Million – 2% accommodations tax collections in Horry County
• $9.5 Million  5% admissions tax collections in Horry County
• $9.3 Billion – gross retail sales in Horry County
• $6.4 Billion – net taxable sales in Horry County
• $29.7 Million – ;1.5% RIDE hospitality fee collections for Horry County RIDE I projects
• $6.4 Million – 1% hospitality fee collections from unincorporated areas of Horry County

Horry County Quick Facts

• 249,925 Horry County’s population for 2007 (As of 7/1/2007)
• 68% employment in Horry County is tourism related
• 89.5% of visitors to the Grand Strand drive their cars
• Approximately 3.7 million rounds of golf are played annually on Grand Strand’s 102 golf courses.
• Over 1.68 million passengers arrived and departed from the Myrtle Beach International Airport in 2007

National Quick Facts

• Driving accounts for 84% of travel in the United States
• $110 billion in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments generated by the travel and tourism industry
• Over 7.5 million direct travel-generated jobs in the United States

Personal Benefits of Travel and Taking a Vacation

Health and Wellness

• Travelers rate their overall health one full point higher (on a scale of 1 to 5) while on vacation. They also get three times more deep sleep after their vacation and sleep almost 20 minutes longer after their vacation.
• An annual vacation can cut a person’s risk of heart attack by 50 percent.

Relationships

• At least four out of ten travelers feel more romantic on vacation (42%), and nearly one-third admit to making love more often on vacation (31%).
• More than half of employed Americans say they come back feeling reconnected with their family after vacation (53%).

Career Success/Productivity

• Travelers experience a 25% increase in performance on vigilance tests after returning from vacation – travelers 45 or older show a 50% increase in performance.
• There's a good chance the benefits of vacation will go straight to the bottom line. According to a study by American Express, more than a third of small-business owners say their best ideas – the ones that lead to business growth – come not at work but during their downtime.
• An inability to take a break can lead to stress, burnout, and a greater likelihood of feeling betrayed and angry when things do not go well at work. Anxiety of top executives often translates into low morale and slumping productivity throughout the ranks.

Creativity

• Business travel can be fertile ground for discovering creative ideas for work or even a new business, according to a recent New York Times story. The reason travel spurs inspiration is the stimulus, said Jeannine McGlade, co-author of “Stimulated! Habits to Spark Your Creative Genius at Work.”  “When you’re in a new environment, you have what we call ‘eyes wide open.  It’s not the ‘same old, same old’ where you tend to get into a rut and aren’t alert to having a ‘spark moment.’ Things are different and fresh during travel. You’re seeing things from a different perspective and you’re really paying attention.”

Relationship, Educational and Cultural Benefits

• Women who take more vacations are more satisfied with their marriages. That may be because:

• At least four out of ten travelers feel more romantic on vacation (42%), and nearly one-third admit to making love more often on vacation (31%).
• It could also be due to the fact that over half of employed Americans say they come back feeling reconnected with their family after vacation (53%).

• Even the anticipation of vacation travel generates an increase in positive feelings about one’s life as a whole, family, economic situation, and health.
• Life satisfaction also increases during vacation, and these effects continue after returning home, according to a study of employees at the University of Tennessee.

(Source: Travel Industry Association)