Growing South Carolina's Tourism Cluster

South Carolina's Low/country - famous for its powdery beaches, golf courses, and ancient live oak trees - is a favorite

In 2003, in fact, travel and tourism in the state had a total economic impact (direct, indirect, and induced) of 216,000 jobs, about 10 percent of total employment, and $10.9 billion in Gross State Product - about 9 percent of total GSR

Much of this revenue comes from out-of-state visitor expenditures and, as such, is an "invisible" export. What kind of assets, however, would spur even more growth in this tourism cluster?

In 2003, at the invitation of South Carolina business leaders, Harvard University's Michael Porter and his Monitor Group assessed the state's competitiveness and outlined a new economic development strategy based around industry clusters. In the study, Dr. Porter and his associates identified tourism as one of four existing industry clusters that have a significant impact on the state's economy.