Editing Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (section)

===Tourism===
{{See also|Economy of South Carolina#Lowcountry_tourism|List of attractions in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina|label 1=Economy of South Carolina}}
Hosting over 20 million visitors annually,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Industry Research |url=https://www.myrtlebeachareacvb.com/industry-research |access-date=3 January 2020 |website=Myrtle Beach Area CVB Partner Connect |language=en-US}}</ref> the Grand Strand is home to an array of tourist attractions, and the area receives a large influx of visitors during all seasons. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 visitors a year are international travelers, including tourists from Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.<ref name="Myrtle Beach Hotels and Tourism">{{Cite web |title=Myrtle Beach Hotels and Tourism |url=http://www.myrtlebeachschotels.org |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831002250/http://myrtlebeachschotels.org/ |archive-date=31 August 2011 |access-date=2 January 2018 |website=Myrtlebeachschotels.org}}</ref>
[[File:Ocean-ave-myrtle.jpg|alt=Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach|thumb|Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach]]

Myrtle Beach hosts a variety of special conventions, events, and musical concerts. The area's attractions include its beaches and courses, amusement parks, an aquarium, [[Legends in Concert]], retail developments, shopping complexes and over 1,900 restaurants<ref name="myrtlebeachareachamber.com">{{Cite web |title=Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce - MBACC Research & Statistics - 2007 Data & Statistics<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.myrtlebeachareachamber.com/research/data_and_statistics.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318081722/http://www.myrtlebeachareachamber.com/research/data_and_statistics.html |archive-date=18 March 2009 |access-date=10 March 2009}}</ref> including seafood restaurants. The area also has dinner theaters, nightclubs, and many tourist shops. Myrtle Beach has approximately 425 hotels, with many on the beachfront, and approximately 157 accommodation units in total. The area is also home to over 80 golf courses and over 30 miniature golf courses.<ref name=":0" />[[File:Margate Tower 6-7-17.png|thumb|right|upright|The 29-floor Margate Tower in Kingston Plantation is the tallest building in the Myrtle Beach area.]] Live shows are offered year round at theaters including the [[Alabama Theatre (Myrtle Beach)|Alabama Theatre]], [[Carolina Opry]], Asher Theater, Calvin Gilmore Theater, [[Legends in Concert]], and [[Medieval Times]] Family Dinner Theater.  Several shows offer special holiday themed shows.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Myrtle Beach Shows & Theaters |url=https://www.myrtlebeach.com/shows-and-theaters/ |website=myrtlebeach.com}}</ref>

The [[Myrtle Beach Boardwalk]] opened in 2010 and has been recognized as the nation's #3 boardwalk by ''[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Lorena |date=18 July 2010 |title=Boardwalk buoys business for Myrtle Beach |work=[[The Sun News]] |url=http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/07/18/1591600/boardwalk-buoys-business-for-mb.html |url-status=dead |access-date=18 July 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912071638/http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/07/18/1591600/boardwalk-buoys-business-for-mb.html |archive-date=12 September 2012}}</ref> and one of the best US boardwalks by [[Travel + Leisure]] magazine.<ref>{{Citation |last=Orcutt |first=April |title=America's Best Beach Boardwalks |date=1 June 2010 |url=http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-beach-boardwalks/ |work=[[Travel + Leisure]] |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref> The Myrtle Beach Skywheel opened at the boardwalk in May 2011, and is a {{convert|200|ft|m|adj=on}} observation wheel, similar to a ferris wheel, with glass gondolas that look over the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first wheel of its kind in the U.S. [[Myrtle Beach State Park]], established in 1935, has just under a mile of Grand Strand beach and is a prime location for camping, swimming, hiking, biking, and fishing. [[Pier 14]] by the Boardwalk.

[[File:Atlantic Ocean shoreline in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.jpg|thumb|right|Hotels and tourists along the Myrtle Beach shoreline (July 2014)]]
[[File:Myrtle_Beach_South_Carolina_100420-F-4155R-026.jpg|thumb|right|[[Myrtle Beach Boardwalk]]]]
[[File:Myrtle_Beach_SkyWheel.jpg|thumb|right|[[Myrtle Beach SkyWheel]]]]
[[File:Splashes_Oceanfront_Water_Park.jpg|thumb|right|[[Splashes Oceanfront Water Park]]]]
[[File:Family_Kingdom_Amusement_Park_3.jpg|thumb|right|[[Family Kingdom Amusement Park]] opened in 1966]]

The [[Myrtle Beach Convention Center]] is a large facility that hosts a variety of meetings, conferences, exhibits, and special events every year. The expansive center, which opened in 2003, has a [[Sheraton Hotels and Resorts|Sheraton]] hotel and resort.

====Annual events====
Each March since 1951 during [[Ontario]]'s [[spring break]], Myrtle Beach has hosted Canadian-American Days, also known as Can-Am Days. Tens of thousands of tourists flock to the area for a week's worth of special events.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kimberly Allyson Duncan |url=https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetom0000dunc_g2w6 |title=Insiders' Guide to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand |last2=Lisa Tomer Rentz |last3=Janice McDonald |publisher=Insiders' Guide |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7627-4407-7 |edition=9th |page=[https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetom0000dunc_g2w6/page/10 10] |quote=Myrtle Beach Canadian-American Days. |url-access=registration}}</ref> Myrtle Beach is also home to Coastal Uncorked, a food and wine festival held in the late spring annually. The city hosts [[Sun Fun Festival]] early each June.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 February 2016 |title=Sun Fun Festival returning to Myrtle Beach |work=Myrtle Beach Sun |url=https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/business/tourism/article62549037.html}}</ref>  Later in June, Myrtle Beach is a popular destination for recently graduated high school seniors for [[Senior Week]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bryant |first=Dawn |date=13 June 2002 |title=Senior Week: A blessing, a curse |page=7B |work=Morning Star |agency=Knight Ridder |location=Wilmington, NC |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bMpOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6416,3287832&dq=senior-week+beach&hl=en |access-date=18 February 2013}}</ref>

[[Carolina Country Music Fest]] (CCMF) is an outdoor country music festival that takes place in June of each year and was founded in 2015 by Charlotte-based company Full House Productions. Due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic the festival wasn't held in 2020, but is scheduled to return in 2021 and take place on 10–13 June 2021.

[[Myrtle Beach International Airport]] serves the city and surrounding area. With regular flights to and from destinations such as Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, New York and Washington, the airport is well connected for both domestic and international tourists. It also serves as a seasonal gateway to and from the likes of Chicago, Dallas and Toronto.

The city is between [[Wilmington, North Carolina]] and [[Charleston, South Carolina]] with [[U.S. Route 17]] serving as the main transport link for those journeying between those cities.<ref name="Myrtle Beach Hotels and Tourism"/>

====Thong bikini ban====
[[Thong]]s (or any swimwear revealing any portion of the [[buttocks]]) are not permitted in public in Myrtle Beach, including all beaches.<ref name="myrtle_beach_thong_ban">{{Cite web |last=City of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |date=11 June 2013 |title=Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Code of Ordinances >> - CODE OF ORDINANCES >> Chapter 14 - OFFENSES AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS >> ARTICLE V. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC MORALS >> |url=https://library.municode.com/sc/myrtle_beach/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH14OFMIPR_ARTVOFAGPUMO_S14-83PUEXSPANPAUN |access-date=3 July 2014 |pages=Sec. 14–83. Public exposure of specified anatomical parts unlawful |quote="It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally appear in any public place in such a state of dress or undress so as to expose to the view of others the human male or female genitals, pubic area, pubic hair, buttocks, anus, vulva or any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof." (Ord. No. 2013-28, 6-11-13)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Myrtlebeach.com |title=Myrtle Beach laws: Swimming / Sun Bathing |url=http://www.myrtlebeach.com/site/pages/myrtle-beach-laws/ |access-date=4 July 2014 |quote="Swimwear is subject to city ordinances in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Surfside Beach. It is illegal for anyone to wear a thong bathing suit."}}</ref> Violators of the ban may be arrested, jailed, or fined.<ref>{{Cite news |last=WMBF News Staff |date=24 May 2013 |title=Woman arrested in Myrtle Beach for wearing thong |publisher=[[WMBF-TV]] |url=http://www.wect.com/story/22414283/woman-arrested-in-myrtle-beach-for-wearing-thong |url-status=dead |access-date=4 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714165256/http://www.wect.com/story/22414283/woman-arrested-in-myrtle-beach-for-wearing-thong |archive-date=14 July 2014 |quote="A North Carolina woman was arrested Friday morning for indecent exposure after officers saw her wearing a thong swimsuit."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee Moran |date=27 May 2013 |title=Woman, 22, arrested for wearing a thong bathing suit at Myrtle Beach |work=[[Daily News (New York)|NY Daily News]] |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-arrested-wearing-thong-myrtle-beach-article-1.1355434 |access-date=4 July 2014 |quote="Cops in South Carolina busted a 22-year-old woman for wearing a thong bikini on the beach."}}</ref> The city's "thong ordinance" has been in effect since the 1990s.<ref>via [[Associated Press]]. [http://thetandd.com/news/myrtle-beach-may-adjust-thong-law-toss-warnings/article_e42c0a91-ff25-50e3-98fd-c9d266f7fff6.html "Myrtle Beach may adjust 'thong law,' toss warnings"], ''[[Times and Democrat]]'', 10 February 2009. Accessed 24 November 2015. "The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports that the current so-called 'thong ordinance' requires officers to issue a warning before issuing tickets. Myrtle Beach has banned thongs on the beach for 16 years."</ref>

=====Motorcycle rallies=====
[[File:Yellow and black and silver Suzukis Black Bike Week 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Riders in traffic at the 2008 [[Black Bike Week|Atlantic Beach Bikefest]]]]
Myrtle Beach Bike Week, also called "Harley Bike Week", is a week-long [[motorcycle rally]] first held in 1940, the same year Kings Highway was paved.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2015 - Myrtle Beach, SC - MyrtleBeach.com |work=MyrtleBeach.com |url=http://www.myrtlebeach.com/myrtle-beach-bike-week/}}</ref> The event has attracted as many as 200,000 visitors to the city every May. [[Black Bike Week]], founded in 1980, takes place the weekend around Memorial Day Weekend and is the largest African American motorcycle rally in the US and attracts as many as 400,000 visitors. The event was created in response to a history of discrimination against African-American visitors and riders to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand Area.<ref name="GroupLawsuits">{{Citation |last=Gettleman |first=Jeffrey |title=Suit Charges Bias at Rally for Black Bikers |date=21 May 2003 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/21/us/suit-charges-bias-at-rally-for-black-bikers.html?fta=y |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=A22 |access-date=31 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="Gettleman 122">{{Citation |title= Claims of Bias Cloud an American Dream for Black Bikers |first= Jeffrey |last= Gettleman|date= 25 May 2003 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/25/us/claims-of-bias-cloud-an-american-dream-for-black-bikers.html?pagewanted=1|access-date=31 January 2010 |page=122 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=First-Wave Feminist Struggles in Black Motorcycle Clubs |access-date=30 January 2010 |url=http://ijms.nova.edu/Fall2009/IJMS_Artcl.Conner.html |journal=[[International Journal of Motorcycle Studies]] |date=Fall 2009 |first=M. Shelly |last= Conner}}</ref>

The Myrtle Beach government created 15 new laws aimed at preventing all sanctioned motorcycle events within the city in response to controversy including accusations of racism by African-American riders during their event and complaints of lawlessness and poor behavior during all highly attended events. Several lawsuits by the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) against Myrtle Beach businesses were settled with agreements that discrimination cease, compensation be given to some plaintiffs, and employees be given diversity training.<ref name="GroupLawsuits"/><ref name="Gettleman 122"/><ref>{{Citation |last=Knight Ridder |title=Myrtle Beach, S.C., resort hotel settles NAACP discrimination lawsuit |date=21 October 2004 |newspaper=Sun News |location=Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |author-link=Knight Ridder}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGOPa23uAYUC&pg=PA410 |page=410 |title=NAACP: celebrating a century : 100 years in pictures |author1=[[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] |author2=The Crisis Publishing Co |publisher=Gibbs Smith |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4236-0527-0 }}</ref> The NAACP suit against the City of Myrtle Beach was settled in 2006 without the city paying damages, but with the agreement police would use the same traffic control rules during both the black and the white motorcycle rallies.<ref name="MBrelease">{{Citation |last=Kruea |first=Mark |title=NAACP Offers to Settle Lawsuit (press release) |date=2 February 2006 |url=http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/naacp.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708161223/http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/naacp.html |publisher=The City of Myrtle Beach |access-date=12 April 2010 |archive-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[South Carolina Supreme Court]] in June 2010 unanimously overturned one of the 15 ordinances, which had required all motorcyclists to wear [[Motorcycle helmet|helmets]], on the grounds that the state law, requiring helmets only for riders under age 21, cannot be preempted by a city ordinance. In addition, the Court ruled that the ordinance created undue confusion, and that the city itself had invalidated their own helmet law and some other ordinances in a subsequent amendment.<ref name="Harley2010">{{Citation |last=Harley |first=Bryan |title=S.C. Court Overrules Myrtle Beach Helmet Law |date=9 June 2010 |url=http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/4/7177/Motorcycle-Article/S-C--Court-Overrules-Myrtle-Beach-Helmet-Law-.aspx |work=MotorcycleUSA.com |access-date=14 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Anderson |first=Lorena |title=Myrtle Beach helmet law quashed; High court backs state standard |date=9 June 2010 |url=http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/06/09/1521080/mb-helmet-law-quashed.html?storylink=mirelated#ixzz0qrIO8v00 |work=Myrtle Beach Sun News |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912185849/http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/06/09/1521080/mb-helmet-law-quashed.html?storylink=mirelated%23ixzz0qrIO8v00 |access-date=14 June 2010 |archive-date=12 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The law had been challenged by a group of motorcyclists and a group of Myrtle Beach businesses called BOOST, Business Owners Organized to Support Tourism, who opposed the city's anti-motorcycle tourism policy.<ref name="TourismPolicy">{{Citation |last=Harley |first=Bryan |title=Court to Rule on Myrtle Beach Helmet Law |date=3 February 2010 |url=http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/4/472/6/Motorcycle-Blog-Post/Court-to-Rule-on-Myrtle-Beach-Helmet-Law-.aspx |access-date=4 February 2010 |archive-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209032717/http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/4/472/6/Motorcycle-Blog-Post/Court-to-Rule-on-Myrtle-Beach-Helmet-Law-.aspx |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=SC high court judge questions motives of MB helmet law |url=http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11765299 |access-date=4 February 2010 |date=3 February 2010 |publisher=WIS News 10 Television |location=[[Columbia, South Carolina]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609140728/http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11765299 |archive-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=SC Supreme Court hears Myrtle Beach helmet law cases |first=Adam |last=Fogle |date=4 February 2010 |url=http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2010/02/04/sc-supreme-court-hears-myrtle-beach-helmet-law-cases/ |access-date=4 February 2010 |archive-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420115942/http://www.palmettoscoop.com/2010/02/04/sc-supreme-court-hears-myrtle-beach-helmet-law-cases/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |date=4 February 2010 |title=High court hears Myrtle Beach helmet law cases; Justices grill attorneys, hold off on decisions |first=Lorena |last=Anderson |access-date=4 February 2010 |url=http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1296783.html |newspaper=The Sun News }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>