By Dawn Bryant, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Oct. 7--North-end tourism promoters are going around the race track and through the fairgrounds to lure vacationers.
The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce is making two sweeps through North Carolina this month in an attempt to attract fall business.
Chamber officials will stop at the Lowe's Motor Speedway then hit the N.C. State Fair in Raleigh. Attendance at the two events could top 1 million people.
'You can't really beat it,' said Craig Lloyd, executive director of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce. 'It's getting us in front of the prime audience.'
The Tarheel State is an important source of visitors for the Grand Strand, making up about 22 percent of the area's 13.7 million tourists annually.
At Lowe's, the chamber is sponsoring a convertible that will take a couple of laps around the 1.5-mile track. The car will be decked out with beach balls and temporarily branded with the chamber's Web site, http://www.northmyrtlebeach chamber.com.
Lloyd then will have 30 seconds to pitch a beach trip to the crowd before the Busch race Saturday and the NASCAR race Sunday.
Racing is a popular sport for some Grand Strand vacationers, chamber surveys show.
'NASCAR has always been head and shoulders above the other sports,' Lloyd said.
Less than a week later, the chamber will head to the fair at the state's capital. Nearly 700,000 people attended the 10-day event last year.
About 30,000 of those attendees completed forms at the chamber booth, and officials gave out about 45,000 visitors guides.
'It's that face time that is so important,' Lloyd said. 'It shows what North Myrtle Beach is about. It shows our uniqueness.'
Vacation destinations are mixed with the corporate sponsors such as Food Lion and Bell South. Past sponsors include Fairfield Resorts and promoters for Massanutten, Va., who have participated for five years.
'From what I hear, they do extremely well,' said Mike Pleasant, who is in charge of sponsorships for the fair.
Both ventures cost the chamber about $15,000. The chamber's marketing budget this year is about $600,000.
North Carolina has suffered major job loss in recent years, but those people still come for vacation, even if they spend less and stay fewer days, Lloyd said.
'It has not really deterred them,' he said. 'People are looking for an escape.'
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(c) 2003, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
