The Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism was created in 2001. The mission of the Brittain Center is to conduct tourism research and support outreach programs for the tourism industry, the community, and students. Coastal Carolina University's Resort Tourism Management major and its International Tourism Management concentration are enhanced by the Center's research focus. The Center is located in the E. Craig Wall, Sr. College of Business Administration and operates separately but in cooperation with, the Center for Economic and Community Development. The centers cooperate in related research projects and share data in order to advance the College and University's mission.
The Brittain Center's short term research goals are to develop new approaches to monitoring tourism supply and demand of tourism support businesses. Center researchers seek to study the synergistic affect each of the elements of the tourism mix has on the overall tourism phenomenon. The Myrtle Beach resort destination area includes lodging, food and beverage, recreation, entertainment, retail, natural resources, human resources, and community infrastructure. Through studying the impact that each single component has on the others researchers will attempt to develop predictive models of business performance, tourism supply and destination demand. Second, the Myrtle Beach area is a geographically longitudinal destination area that is at the center of a regional tourism area best described as Coastal Carolina. The Center will attempt to encourage better communications between business and community planners and marketers throughout the Coastal Carolina area.
