(NC)—MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Sixty miles of sunny beach with more than 100 golf courses, 80,000 hotel and condo rooms and 1,600 restaurants is now even easier to get to for Canadian snowbirds.
Direct Air (www.visitdirectair.com) has added direct flights to Myrtle Beach International Airport from Niagara Falls and Plattsburgh, N.Y., increasing air access from two of Canada's largest metropolitan areas – Montreal and Toronto – to South Carolina's Grand Strand.
“The airport out of Niagara Falls made the whole trip so much easier. There have been no hassles with luggage and connections and airports,” Toronto-area resident Dan Mullally said on a recent trip. “A quick drive to Niagara Falls and you are in Myrtle Beach in two hours, and that makes all the difference in the world.”
There now are seven commercial airlines offering flights to Myrtle Beach from 16 other American cities, too.
Winter golf has long been a major attraction here, for financial and aesthetic reasons alike.
“The quality of the 100-plus golf courses in Myrtle Beach combined with the great value that they present to golfers are two of the principal reasons that Canadians visit us year after year,” said Bill Golden, president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday (www.golfholiday.com).
“And when you compare the average daily high temperatures in Canada in February and March to the 60- and 70-degree days we enjoy along the Grand Strand in those months, it's perhaps no surprise that we're such a popular destination for Canadians every year,” he said.
Just to make sure they know they're welcome, each March for more than 40 years, the Grand Strand celebrates Can-Am Week, a series of events intended as an extra bit of southern hospitality to the annual influx of visitors from up north.
Not that there's any shortage of things to do. Joining the beach shops, restaurants and other traditional downtown favourites such as the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum is a number of major developments spreading out from the original central city.
They include Broadway at the Beach, anchored by the Hard Rock Café and Ripley's Aquarium, Barefoot Landing and its Alabama Theatre, Fantasy Harbour and much more.
The range of shopping choices also has grown sharply in the past few years. For instance, Colonial Mall now boasts a 100,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. There are more than 300 outlet center stores and the Coastal Grand, South Carolina's largest mall, has 1.5 million square feet under one roof.
The old Myrtle Beach Air Force base property also has a new look with the recent opening of Market Common, an upscale living/shopping/dining development.
More information on Myrtle Beach is available at www.visitmybeach.com.
Source: www.newscanada.com
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