What Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office does

The Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office is a municipal government department under the City of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, responsible for managing the 40-block Downtown Area and the 1.2-mile Myrtle Beach Boardwalk. Its core function is destination management for one of the Southeast United States' major tourist beachfronts, providing visitor services that include public parking infrastructure (beach access at $3.00/hour and on-street at $2.00/hour), public restrooms near the Skywheel, beach safety monitoring, and enforcement of beach regulations. The entity operates the official digital portal (myrtlebeachboardwalk.com), which serves as the primary information hub for events, parking, beach rules, and includes a live EarthCam feed for real-time boardwalk viewing.

The office's service delivery model combines direct operations with franchised partners. The GOLD CAP Ambassador program deploys radio-equipped uniformed staff who patrol the 40-block area and liaise with the Myrtle Beach Police Department. Beach chair and umbrella rentals are franchised to two operators: John's Beach Service (Zones 39-88) and Lack's Beach Service (Zones 1-38 and 89), giving the city full coverage of the beach without bearing capital equipment costs. The entity also coordinates with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for water quality monitoring.

Revenues flow to the City of Myrtle Beach rather than the office as a standalone entity, derived primarily from parking meter fees and franchise arrangements. The entity does not sell a product or service in a conventional commercial sense; it is a public service provider. Its customer base is highly fragmented, consisting of beach visitors and tourists, with local residents as a secondary segment. Headcount is small (1-10 employees), consistent with a city department that relies on contracted and franchised labor for service delivery.

Name

Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office

Legal name

City of Myrtle Beach

Website

https://myrtlebeachboardwalk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office is a City of Myrtle Beach municipal department that manages the 40-block Downtown Area and 1.2-mile boardwalk, providing visitor services including parking, public restrooms, the GOLD CAP Ambassador program, and regulated beach amenities to tourists and local residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Tourism and Beachfront Public Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Shore Excursion & Port Services Operators (THAKAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Marine Recreation Rentals & Tours Retail Counter (On-site Sales) (CRAMAIAM)

Keywords

• Public parking services
• Beach ambassador program
• Boardwalk tourism services
• Public beach amenities
• Municipal visitor services

Headquarters

HQ city

Myrtle Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office manages the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk and a 40-block downtown area as a unified tourist destination, delivering public services including visitor information, the GOLD CAP Ambassador assistance program, public parking meters, public restrooms, beach rules and safety enforcement, and franchised beach chair and umbrella rentals. Services are delivered directly by the city and through franchises to local operators (John's Beach Service and Lack's Beach Service) that split the beach into exclusive zones.

Product overview

The Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office operates the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk as a unified tourism destination management platform. The core product is the boardwalk website (myrtlebeachboardwalk.com) which serves as the official digital portal for the 1.2-mile boardwalk and 40-block downtown area. Supporting services include chair and umbrella rentals (franchised through John's Beach Service and Lack's Beach Service), the GOLD CAP Ambassador program providing visitor assistance, public parking services with city-wide meters, public restrooms near the Skywheel, and a live EarthCam feed for real-time beach monitoring. The platform also communicates beach laws, rules, and safety information.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Myrtle Beach Boardwalk Website Official digital portal for the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk providing visitor information including events, parking, beach rules, restroom locations, ambassador program details, and live EarthCam feed across the 40-block downtown area.
• Chair & Umbrella Rentals Franchised beach rental service operated by John's Beach Service (Zones 39-88) and Lack's Beach Service (Zones 1-38 and 89), providing chair and umbrella rentals along the Myrtle Beach coastline.
• GOLD CAP Ambassador Program Highly visible, radio-equipped ambassador program that patrols the 40-block Downtown Area providing visitors with information, directions to area businesses and attractions, and acting as liaison with the Myrtle Beach Police Department.
• Boardwalk Parking Services Public parking services at Beach Access Points ($3.00/hr, $15 daily) and On-Street city-wide locations ($2.00/hr, $10 daily), with non-resident decals and weekly passes available.
• Public Restrooms Public restrooms located on Ocean Boulevard between Mr. Joe White Avenue and 12th Avenue North, directly across from the Myrtle Beach Skywheel.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC)minorOthersCollaborative partnership for beach water quality monitoring. DHEC tests ocean water quality at over 120 South Carolina locations during swim season (May 1 through October 1). The City of Myrtle Beach also conducts weekly water quality testing during summer months.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Outer Banks Visitors Bureau (Dare County Tourism Board): Regional tourism authority serving another Atlantic beach destination. Comparable in coordinating visitor services, beach safety communications, and seasonal programming across multiple beach towns.
• Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau: Municipal CVB managing a comparable Atlantic beachfront boardwalk and tourism district. Operates beach services, events, parking, and visitor information along the boardwalk, mirroring Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office's mandate.
• City of Miami Beach Tourism & Culture Department: Municipal tourism entity managing a beachfront destination with similar public-parking, restroom, lifeguard-adjacent, and event-coordination functions. Comparable in scale and service scope to the Downtown Development Office.
• Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau: CVB serving a similar high-volume, beach-driven tourism market on the Gulf Coast. Comparable visitor-services mandate, beach regulations, and dependence on seasonal visitation.
• Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau: Destination marketing organization for a Gulf Coast beachfront city with a historic boardwalk. Comparable in managing beach amenities, public parking, and visitor services for a tourism-driven coastal economy.
• Visit Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce/CVB): The official destination marketing organization for the broader Myrtle Beach area. Direct peer because it operates in the same destination, serving overlapping visitor segments with marketing, events, and visitor information — the same function the Downtown Development Office fulfills at the boardwalk district level.

Broad incumbents

• Maritz Global Events (Destination Management): Large, established destination management company serving meetings, incentives, and events. Comparable in DMC function (on-the-ground visitor logistics) but operates commercially at much broader scale and across geographies.

Others

• HelmsBriscoe: Global hospitality services company coordinating meetings and group travel logistics. Comparable as an adjacent destination-services operator, though it serves B2B event sourcing rather than consumer beach tourism.

Regional players

• Discover Long Island / Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau: Regional tourism DMO serving multiple beach communities with visitor information and event promotion. Compares as a scaled destination marketing peer for beachfront communities.
• South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau: CVB for a Texas Gulf Coast beach destination. Operates beach services, visitor information, and event programming in a different geography but for an analogous resort-boardwalk use case.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MyrtleBeachDDO

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Myrtle Beach Downtown Development Office