Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Holiday hordes roll in

The bus tours that roll through the Grand Strand in the winter full of tourists geared up for holiday shows and shopping sprees are as predictable as the season's cooler temperatures and early sunsets.

And this year, officials from many of the shopping venues and the local theaters - which all kicked off their Christmas shows last week - are expecting a tour bus ambush even greater than last year.

"So far this year, we're ahead as far as numbers go," said Jordan Gilmore Watkins, marketing manager for the Carolina Opry. "I don't know if it's a combination of factors. I guess, right now, people want to laugh and enjoy themselves."

From now until early January, the theater's Christmas performance will attract an average of 100 bus tour riders to each show, and as many as 1,000 on big nights, Watkins said.

The tour bus traffic to Alabama Theatre's Christmas show is also expected to be strong this year, said Cathy Kelley, national sales manager.

Mary Lou Prideaux came with a group of 50 friends from a senior citizen health club in Bradenton, Fla., on one of two buses that showed up at the theater's first holiday show Wednesday.

"We're just having a good time," she said. "All we've been doing is eating and seeing shows."

The group had already gone to the Carolina Opry and seen the Twelve Irish Tenors at the Palace Theatre earlier in the week.

The motor coach business makes up 50 percent of group sales and 15 percent of the overall attendance during this time of year, Kelley said.

"The motor coaches start to come in, and then it gathers speed. You will see the motor coaches just going up and down the road. It'll be motor coaches, motor coaches, motor coaches up and down the Bypass," Kelley said. "That first week of December is crazy. We'll have as many as 17 motor coaches in one day."

Employees at the Vanity Fair outlet at the Tanger Outlets off U.S. 501 are geared up for the rush of people traveling by bus and hungry for deals during the next few months, said store manager Jacqueline Riotto.

"We're very, very excited, and we will definitely be able to accommodate the buses," she said.

So far, sales have increased 16 percent from last year, and that is expected to continue with the buses heading to the area.

The economy is turning a corner from where it was a year ago, but Riotto says the main reason for the uptick is the completion of the store's renovation, which wrapped up a year ago.

Making money isn't the only fun part of hosting these tourists, Riotto said.

"We get on the bus and let them know what we have going on in the store, all the great value and all the different brand names that we carry, offering them the coupon books and a shopping bag," she said. "It's a lot of fun, and you'd be surprised how many times they take pictures of us and give us standing ovations."

One major change Kelley has noticed this year is that tour bus groups are booking tickets for the Alabama Theatre's Christmas show at the last minute. In the past, riders would book as far as six months out, and now, many are booking just a month before, Kelley said.

"I'm sure that they're thinking, 'Oh, wait a minute, can I afford this?' But thankfully, they've got hotels that have cut deals, so everybody can afford it," she said.

Coastal Grand mall sees tour buses from across the country and Canada throughout the year, but the number of parking spots filled by the large buses in November and December rival those seen during the summer months, said general manager Steve McGhee.

And there's a good chance the traffic will surpass that of last year, he said.

"I don't think a lot of people were booking bus trips because of the state of the economy, and this year, I think they'll free up some of their money to do so," McGhee said.

While the mall doesn't keep track of all of the tour buses, the riders will no doubt contribute to the expected increase in fourth-quarter sales, he said.

Larry McCoy, director of marketing and sales at Dixie Stampede, said he's pleasantly surprised that tour bus group sales are about even with last year. Still, about 40 percent to 45 percent of people in the larger tour bus groups will cancel reservations, he said.

"Their final results or final counts can be affected from everything from the economy to illness within their families, to the weather. It just depends," McCoy said.

Nothing was going to stop Helen McGarry and her friends from taking the 12-hour bus trip from Bradenton to Myrtle Beach.

"It's active, and there are a lot of things to see," she said. She was all smiles before seeing the show at the Alabama Theatre.

It also doesn't hurt that the area has its share of nice restaurants, McGarry said.