"Myrtle Beach airport marketing strategy aims to trim fees"

Friday, May 18, 2007

Airport strategy aims to trim fees
MB chamber to develop plan to improve tourism marketing in agreement with
councilman
By Travis Tritten
The Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News


A plan to increase business at the Myrtle Beach airport through slashed fees
and new marketing could be completed within a month, an Horry County
councilman and the head of a local chamber of commerce agreed Thursday.

Councilman Howard Barnard said he will press fellow county lawmakers to drop
airport fees from $8.56 to $4 per passenger if the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber
of Commerce creates a plan within 30 days to attract more airlines and
passengers.

At the same time, if current tourism marketing does not improve, Barnard
said the county should create its own tourism board to take over the job now
handled by the chamber and other groups.

The fees and marketing agreement follows an air service study released
Tuesday by the Boyd Group, which found that airline costs at Myrtle Beach
International Airport are higher than other airports and could hamper
efforts to attract more airlines.

Barnard said his proposals are part of a comprehensive approach, outlined in
the report, that could increase air service and stimulate the local economy
in coming years.

"You come show us a marketing plan ... then I will come back and try to sell
to the council a $4 landing fee," Barnard told Brad Dean, president and
chief executive of the chamber.

Dean said "we welcome that opportunity" and will include other chambers in
the effort.

It is the first movement toward airport expansion since the City of Myrtle
Beach's Community Appearance Board rejected the county's plans for a new
14-gate terminal on April 26, sending the eight-year project into a
tailspin.

However, any reduction in airport fees must be approved by the full County
Council.

"I am willing to go to zero [fees], if we can," Council Chairwoman Liz
Gilland said. "I don't think it will do much, but I am willing to go as far
as we can to prove the point" that the county is dedicated to increasing
service at the airport.

The county had planned to use airport revenues, including the fees, to pay
for construction of the new terminal.

County staff will spend the next 30 days determining whether the fees can be
cut in half and how it would affect county finances, according to Barnard.

The fees are what it costs airlines to do business at the county airport and
are passed on to passengers through ticket prices.

Passengers at Myrtle Beach end up paying $8.56 each, twice the amount at
other similar airports, according to the Boyd study, which was commissioned
by the chamber and Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.

Such costs are not the primary factor airlines look at when deciding whether
to do business at an airport, but they are a concern, the study said.

In Myrtle Beach, the fees take on added weight because of the annual winter
downturn in tourism, a time when carriers must continue to pay airport fees
but earn less because of a reduction in passengers, the Boyd study found.

Meanwhile, most low-fare carriers have no current interest in Myrtle Beach
and developing new air service is likely to take years, the study said.

As part of that effort, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce must
improve overall tourism marketing, Barnard said.

If not, the county could create its own county tourism board, he said -
dealing a potential blow to the chamber, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and
various other businesses and groups involved in tourism by eliminating key
funding and a major partner in tourism.

Chamber surveys show many people who have never visited the Myrtle Beach
area believe it is more expensive compared to other vacation destinations.

That common perception is untrue - it is less expensive than other
destinations and costs of coming here are rising slower than elsewhere,
according to Dean.

Barnard said the finding shows the chamber must improve its efforts.

"I think we can both agree this is a marketing opportunity," he said.

The state contributed $300,000 over the past year to the chamber's tourism
marketing efforts and is likely to contribute even more in the coming year -
a sign that it has faith in the chamber's marketing abilities, said Dean,
who was in Columbia this week to meet with state lawmakers about future
funding.

The local business community is also aligned behind the chamber and supports
its tourism work, he said.

Golf Holiday and the Myrtle Beach Lodging Co-op both said they opposed a
county tourism board.

The chamber and Golf Holiday work together closely to ensure that marketing
efforts are effective, group president Mickey McCamish said.

"We communicate very frequently. Airline marketing is one of those areas,"
he said. "We make sure we both are not doing the same thing in marketing."

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