By Dawn Bryant, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Oct. 4--The last Vanguard flight from Myrtle Beach to Kansas City, Mo., this week took with it tourism leaders' ace for luring vacationers from the Midwest.
The nonstop flights, which started in January and ended Tuesday, directly connected the Grand Strand's golf courses and beaches with the sought-after Midwestern market.
But area leaders aren't giving up just because the popular flights stopped, a result of Vanguard adjusting in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
They're hopeful Vanguard resumes the flights in the spring after the airline industry settles and some travelers' flying hesitancy subsides.
'With or without the air service, we will continue to look at the Midwest and West opportunity,' said Stephen Greene, communications vice president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. 'But we won't aggressively go after cities where you can't easily get here.'
Marketing groups have pulled back some of their immediate advertising in the Kansas City area and redirected that into the drive markets, said Gary Loftus, the chamber's chairman. Those markets are expected to help the Grand Strand hold steady amid the travel industry slump.
'We had quite a bit of success in Kansas City and Minneapolis,' he said. 'Of course [Vanguard's withdrawal] is going to put a damper on that. But that doesn't mean we can't go after that market again.'
Vanguard officials were pleased with the Myrtle Beach flights and plan to look at the area again early next year, spokesman Alan Carr said.
'We are open to revisiting it. But at this time, we have no plans to begin service again,' he said.
Determined golfers and vacationers from the Midwest still can fly into Myrtle Beach by connecting at hubs in Atlanta or Charlotte, N.C.
But Vanguard's withdrawal from the Myrtle Beach International Airport eliminates an ease that helped lure more visitors, especially golfers. The 2 1/2-hour nonstop flight replaced cumbersome connections and created an alternative to an 18-hour road trip.
Vanguard, a discount airline, offered four nonstop flights weekly from Myrtle Beach to Kansas City on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
From January through August, those flights carried more than 27,000 passengers, airport director Bob Kemp said.
Kemp hopes to resume that nonstop Midwest connection.
'If there is adequate demand out there, we should be able to secure more service,' he said.
Kevin Kietzman, sports director at a Kansas City radio station, remembers how crowded Myrtle Beach-bound Vanguard flights were. He already is rethinking golf outings and a spring promotional trip to Myrtle Beach with WHB-AM's clients. The station partners with Vanguard.
'It doesn't look real good,' he said. 'We don't know of another cost-effective way to get there. We'll try to find a way to get there, but it is a setback.'
Some Kansas City golfers looking for nonstop, cheap flights now likely will turn to Phoenix, Kietzman said.
No one knows how the canceled flights will affect golf, but leaders at Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday are hoping to build on the summer's record number of rounds.
'I'm optimistic they will continue to come. They will seek other ways,' executive director Mickey McCamish said.
Golf Holiday and chamber leaders are lending an understanding ear to the airlines while reminding them of the area's potential as a fly market.
'We want to be proactive and keep the name `Myrtle Beach' in front of them,' McCamish said.
Chamber leaders find comfort in knowing the withdrawal was not caused by a failure in the market but a reaction to unprecedented events that crippled the airline industry.
'Any loss of airlines is a blow, but in this situation it wasn't caused by a lack of demand,' Greene said. 'It is important we continue to keep our name out there. We don't want to close any doors.'
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(c) 2001, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
