24 OCT 2019: If falling leaves, frost and snow, (we’re looking at you, Alberta), has you lamenting the end of summer, Myrtle Beach believes it has a remedy. The South Carolina city’s “Stretch Your Summer” campaign endeavours to help Canadians “reclaim” summer with a fall-timed promotion packed with deals, itinerary ideas, and more.
“Many visitors know Myrtle Beach for its summertime fun, but fall is one of the destination’s best-kept secrets – offering warm temperatures, fewer crowds and incredible value for your money in the shoulder season,” says Karen Riordan, president and CEO of Visit Myrtle Beach. “For those who have the flexibility to travel off-season, it’s the perfect way to ‘Stretch Your Summer’ with a vacation before the end of the year.”
The campaign features lodging, attraction and restaurant deals, arts and culture offerings, and suggested 60-hour itineraries that curate which activities, attractions and neighbourhoods work best for a micro trip. (For details, visit www.visitmyrtlebeach.com).
If that isn’t enough, or the timing isn’t right. Myrtle Beach Area CVB Canadian rep Kimberly Hartley points out that Can-Am deals kick in Jan.1, with similar discounts through April 3, and including the annual Can-Days, which will take place for the 59th time March 14-22, 2020. The theme next year, she notes, is “Myrtle Beach loves Canada.”
With just under a million Canadian visitors a year (of whom 75 percent drive, largely from Ontario and Quebec), it’s not a surprising sentiment from the CVB and its partners, one of whom — Alexia Edge, sales manager of Ripley Myrtle Beach – joined Hartley in Canada for calls with travel agents and tour operators this week.
Noting that Ripley’s is owned by a Canadian, Jim Pattison, Edge said the Ripley’s Aquarium is undergoing its largest ever expansion to accommodate a new African penguin exhibit, which will include opportunities for guests to interactive, or just observe the birds. It is due to open in early 2020.
Other Ripley properties in Myrtle Beach include Believe It or Not, Haunted Adventure, Moving Theatre, and Mirror Maze, all of which can be visited individually or with a combo ticket.
With Edge visiting Canada for the first time and taking in some of the sights in Toronto and Niagara, Travel Industry Today put her on the spot for a top five list of must-do’s for Canadians in her hometown. They included: Go to the beach (of course) – the Myrtle Beach area has 100 km of sand it counts as its own; shop, relax in a bar or restaurant, and stroll the boardwalk at Murrells Inlet; dine at one of the city’s few remaining buffets, The Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood; drop a line off the 2nd Avenue or Cherry Grove piers (fishing equipment can be rented); and (of course) take advantage of ongoing half-price admission deals at Ripley’s attractions.
Hartley adds there is really limitless activities in Myrtle Beach to fashion one’s own list: from beach walking to hiking, cycling, kayaking and other soft adventure, bird watching, and opportunities to explore “low country” history and culture. “So many travel agents ask me about (the latter),” she says. She also points out that the area is renowned for its great golf, with over 100 courses, not to mention a host of elaborate mini-golf venues.
Beyond driving, Myrtle Beach is served seasonally from Toronto by WestJet (April-Oct) and Porter (Feb.-May), and Canadians close to the border can also take advantage of Spirit Airlines service from Niagara Falls, and Plattsburg, NY; and Detroit.