Viewpoint Remember when we took economic impact for granted?

What a welcome sight, then, were the lines of cars streaming onto U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant the Friday before the Cooper River Bridge Run. How good to see visitors looking for their hotels and places to eat and shop across the region.

Published April 13, 2009

It wasn’t so long ago that the economic impact of the big festivals such as the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, the Flowertown Festival and the Cooper River Bridge Run were barely worth a mention.

We might’ve said something about the millions of dollars while sitting in heavier-than-usual traffic or waiting an extra 20 minutes to get a table at a favorite restaurant. Tourism dollars were important when the economy was strong. But South Carolina’s biggest industry seems even more important now.

Who could not feel a little comfort in seeing lines of traffic traversing the Lowcountry over the weekend, cars making their way to Charleston, North Charleston and Summerville? The tourists, and tourists’ dollars, were pouring in.

A downtown Charleston bike taxi driver said finding customers the day of the bridge run was like shooting fish in a barrel. He said he put more than 450 miles on his new bike taxi.

While the local and state economies got a good dousing of cash from the early year events and festivals, there’s a fight going on in tourism against time and money. Patriots Point, as iconic a symbol of the Lowcountry as the Cooper River bridge, is struggling. The recently announced layoffs and cuts in hours come at a pivotal time for Mount Pleasant’s largest attraction, and we suspect it’s not alone.

People who live here should visit the local attractions, especially if vacation plans have been scaled back. Make an effort to talk up what we have here, because no business can take any other business for granted now.