Retirees love the Myrtle Beach area, too. From 2000 to 2013, the county’s population of residents 65 years old and older grew by 58 percent, while Georgetown County saw a 66 percent growth in its population of people 65 and over.
Among local residents still in the workforce, approximately 65 to 70 percent of Horry County’s employment is either directly or indirectly tourism-related. Beyond that, 58.8 percent are in the service industry and 20.7 percent are in retail and wholesale trades.
And, of course, tourism is vitally important to Myrtle Beach and all of Horry and Georgetown counties. The Chamber of Commerce says some 16.1 million visitors came to Myrtle Beach in 2013, the latest year of published statistics.
Myrtle Beach is well-known as a destination for Canadian visitors, and the Chamber says vacationers account for 72 percent of about 946,700 visitors from Canada each year. Historical data indicates that two of South Carolina’s largest overseas visitor-origin countries are Germany and the United Kingdom, the Chamber says.
The top 10 U.S. origins of visitors to Myrtle Beach are:
- Pennsylvania
- Ohio
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- New York
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Tennessee
- Michigan
- West Virginia
Among those traveling to Myrtle Beach, 61 percent are families and 28 percent are couples.
Most visitors (71 percent) spend four to seven nights in the Grand Strand area, with an average of six days for leisure travelers and three days for business travelers.