Strong weekend for Grand Strand tourism expected

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — As the summer season winds down, tourism remains strong along South Carolina’s Grand Strand, the heart of the state’s $14 billion tourism industry.

Researchers at the Brittain Center for Resort Tourism at Coastal Carolina University say occupancy at the lodgings it surveys along the northern South Carolina coast are expected to run about 95 percent this weekend.

It will be one of the last big weekends for tourism on the coast this summer with schools starting to open during the next couple of weeks.