Some students in the beach's tourism feeder markets who have been kept out of class by the snow and ice might have to make up those days at the end of the school year, which could delay their vacations until later June or July. That could mean a slow start to summer for Myrtle Beach tourism.

But tourism promoters are trying to use the harsh winter to benefit the Grand Strand, boosting ads during the winter spells like the one last week, aiming to entice cabin-fevered folks to plan that beach getaway this spring or summer.

The reason: The agency thinks it knows why visitor volume dipped 0.1 percent to 39.7 million people in 2013, and 2014 already is setting up to be the year that the number of tourists breaks the elusive 40 million barrier.

The Gulf Shores and Orange beach area ended 2013 with a lodging revenue of $343 million growing by 5.9 percent, and a retail sale of $683 million dollars, increasing by 6.5 percent from the previous year.

Since 1999, nearly 9,000 lodging rooms have been added to Pleasure Island. Officials attribute that growth to a number of investments by the cities since the harsh impact of the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill, including the large interest in sports tourism, the Hangout Music Festival, and good old southern hospitality.

Source: FOX 10 TV.  Read More...