County makes push for late-season tourists

With over $250,000 in the bank and unofficial word that it will get a $120,000 state grant, the county Tourism Management Commission has approved a $36,000 online ad campaign to draw overnight visitors between now and Labor Day.

The commission will also start a campaign aimed at fall golfers, including online ads pitched at people who follow the PGA Championship that starts next week in Atlanta.

Another golf campaign will start this fall in partnership with the Waccamaw Golf Trail, a group of 13 golf courses that includes 10 on Waccamaw Neck, two in southern Horry County and Wedgefield Plantation in Georgetown. The commission committed $15,000 to that campaign with another $15,000 to be reviewed next month. The golf trail will match that with $30,000.

Meanwhile, the commission will seek another $200,000 accommodations tax grant from Georgetown County Council. The commission gets the first 30 percent of the county's revenue from the state tax on short-term rentals, but routinely seeks additional funds through grants that are awarded for tourism-related purposes.

GOP state legislator announces run for Congress

State Rep. Thad Viers of Myrtle Beach announced today he will run for the new 7th Congressional District that includes Waccamaw Neck. The announcement follows the signing by Gov. Nikki Haley of a congressional reapportionment plan on Monday in Myrtle Beach.

Under the plan, all of Georgetown County will be in the same congressional district. It is currently split between the 1st and 6th districts.

The 7th District, created because of the state's population growth, includes Horry County and the Pee Dee.

Viers grew up in Socastee and was elected to the state House in 2002. He graduated from the USC School of Law in 2007 and is a practicing attorney.

“The Pee Dee deserves a principled conservative leader who will go to Washington focused on the next generation and not the next election,” Viers said in announcing his run for Congress.

He said he would have voted against the bill that passed Congress this week raising the debt ceiling and creating a framework for deficit reduction.