On Tuesday, Myrtle Beach City Council voted five to two creating a new Overlay District.  The move banned CBD oils, alternative nicotine, vapor products, and e-cigarettes from the downtown Ocean Boulevard area as Mayor Brenda Bethune said these products are not “Family Friendly”.  A group of merchants, largely of Israeli American nationality, are being blamed for the lack of a family friendly environment in downtown Myrtle Beach by the mayor and most on city council.

These same merchants told local news that this new overlay district will likely force them out of business.

Ongoing research, MyrtleBeachSC news has done, brings light into questions about who is to blame for the type of clientele currently visiting downtown Myrtle Beach, however.

Today, we searched for oceanfront rooms on Tripadvisor investigating prices for a family of 2 adults and 2 children arriving this coming weekend.

Rates in Myrtle Beach, (we searched for the cheapest rooms), shows:

Properties Managed By Brittain Resort Hotels: https://www.brittainresorts.com/

Brittain Resort Hotels management has a close relationship with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation.  A partner in the group,  Ann Brittain, just recently stepped down from the Downtown Redevelopment Board.

COMPARE MYRTLE BEACH TO NORTH MYRTLE BEACH

We searched for the same type of family rates for 2 adults and 2 children.  Rates in North Myrtle Beach arriving this week, (we searched for the cheapest rooms), shows:

Note the disclaimer TripAvisor provides:  Most travelers to North Myrtle Beach book their vacation rentals 2-3 months before they travel. These “family friendly” guests often stay one week.  Not so for Myrtle Beach,  guests tend to reserve as late as several days out and typically only stay for a long weekend.

The industry calls these type of Myrtle Beach clients “LEAST COMMON DENOMINATOR CUSTOMERS“.  In short, they are the cheapest to get and the easiest to attract.

Is it the CBD shop or the cheap rooms that are attracting these customers to the city of Myrtle Beach?

What if these customers are actually coming because they want to shop at a beachwear store?  Could this be what marketing experts call a “perfect customer to brand relationship”?  If so, then City Council actually wants a new Myrtle Beach tourist customer.

Visit downtown Ocean Boulevard any weekend and the pictures below, with blue lights flashing, are common.

This new generation of Myrtle Beach customers Vape and they certainly use E-Cigarettes.  They also consume alcohol in mass, making Mayor Bethune one of the most successful business owners in the town. She owns the local Anheuser Busch distributorship.

SHOOTINGS AND CITY SILENCE

When shootings do occur downtown or near Broadway At The Beach, one of the first questions MyrtleBeachSC news asks local police is: “Where  (at what hotel) was this shooter staying?”  These questions are met with silence.

No dividing line exists between the corporate partnership of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of  Myrtle Beach, the hotel industry, and the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation.

WHY SO CHEAP?

Property Managers, like Brittain Resort Hotels, do not own the rooms they rent.  Outside investors bought those.  The property manager has little skin in the game.

These condo investors live in New York, Ohio, New Jersey, etc, however,  and they can’t vote locally.  The city requires each condo owner buy a city business license of $250 even though few own a business inside the city. (The Property Manager does.)  At 18,000 rooms, the city of Myrtle Beach collects $4.5 million annually on these mom and pop investors.

MyrtleBeachSC news receives ongoing calls from a variety of condo owners complaining about their property management company.  Most condo owners call us to complain about the low end clientele the property manager consistently rents to.  Property Managers, like Brittain Resort Hotels, keep 40% of the investor’s rentals.  Yet, a top tier resort like North Beach Plantation above, is rented by Brittain Resort Hotels this week for only $89 per night.

When the budget guest checks into these high end condos, the damage and neglect done to the room on overall wear and tear is sizable.

Who pays for the repairs on those damaged condos?  If you guessed the condo owner, you guessed right.

LOCKED IN

Policies in place by local governments and state legislators make it hard for a condo investor to rent through AirBNB, Homeaway, and VRBO.  The common areas, including pools, lazy rivers, onsite water parks, amenities, and parking lots make it virtually impossible to get an individual housekeeper onsite to clean the rooms. Guests who book through AirBNB, Homeaway, and VRBO are not allowed to use the resort’s pools, onsite water parks, and lazy rivers.

The muscle behind requiring these investors to use the onsite property manager is often Myrtle Beach City Government.

The corporate/City of Myrtle Beach government collusion circle exampled here is the model of the the area.

Should the role of city government be to regulate Myrtle Beach Property Managers?  Or should it be to partner with them?