Fewer buyers in S.C. market

The state is pumping
millions into tourism.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Wander through Charleston’s open-air market and it’s easy to see the effects that a slumping economy and higher gas prices are having on tourism, South Carolina’s biggest industry.

“There are a lot more browsers and fewer buyers,” said Ashley Joiner, 25, who for seven years has sold silver and turquoise jewelry at a stand in the market. “It’s the gas prices.”

“It’s the economy, that’s the problem,” countered Lydia Cunningham, who sells hand-crafted jewelry at a stall just down the way. “I hope it gets better for everybody’s sake.”

Whatever the reason, there’s concern the coming vacation season could be one of the slowest for the state’s $16 billion tourism industry since the sharp drop in travel after the 2001 terror attacks.

“Clearly, economic uncertainties are weighing on the minds of travelers,” said Brad Dean, executive director of the chamber of commerce in Myrtle Beach, the heart of the state’s tourism industry.

Dean said a recent chamber survey of likely East Coast travelers showed more people than in the past worried about personal debt. It also indicated they’ll be watching their dollars more when they do travel.

“They are likely to reduce the number of nights spent traveling and the amount of discretionary income spent,” he said. “Our market is middle-class America and certainly we take note of that.”

Sitting on a swing on a pier at Charleston’s Waterfront Park, Nancy and Gary Hutchison of San Luis Obispo, Calif., enjoyed a spring-like day recently during a trip to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, a vacation planned a year ago.

“If it was today, we probably wouldn’t have come this far,” said Nancy Hutchinson, 53.

Gary Hutchinson, a 49-year-old utility worker, and his wife, who works for a church, said if they were planning the trip today, they would have celebrated in California and saved the $900 air fare.

Some of their investments have been hurt by the slump in the California real estate, he said.

Statewide, the picture is also uncertain.

“What I’m seeing is an industry that is watching developments carefully and trying to figure out what they portend,” said Marion Edmonds, a spokesman for the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Dean said the Grand Strand, the 60-mile reach of beaches from Georgetown to the North Carolina state line, may be in a better position to deal with a soft tourism market than other resorts around the nation.

One reason is new attractions, including the opening later this spring of Hard Rock Park, a music-theme amusement park. Another is more money for promotion.

State lawmakers put $10 million more in this year’s state budget for tourism advertising. They also added $10 million in tourism money for communities that can match it on a two-to-one basis. In all, that could mean $40 million more to lure visitors to the state.

Edmonds said the presidential primaries — held in South Carolina in January one week apart — may have helped, too.

“A lot of national news media outlets felt it would be cheaper to go down one time and stay through the week, so we got lots of calls to come up with stories,” he said. “Those stories, with few exceptions, painted South Carolina in a positive and intriguing light — stories about our culture, our cuisine and our music.”

Back at Charleston’s Waterfront Park, 65-year-old Jerry Knapp, a retired aviator from Venice, Fla., was on a five-day visit with his wife. The couple has no plans to stop traveling and shrugged off talk of a slowdown.

“I don’t think there is a problem with the economy,” he said. “People are better off then they have ever been. It is the best we have ever had it.”

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