It's a cross section of the state's history and culture, and officials are betting this innovative strategy will be a boon for rural economic development.
Tourism is vital to South Carolina's economy.
Although the economic benefits of tourism in the coastal counties have been positive and significant since the end of World War II, the same has not been true for the more rural areas of the state. Now, however, a nontraditional approach to rural economic development is offering small towns and rural areas in South Carolina a new opportunity to capitalize on their often rich and varied cultural, natural, and historic resources. This opportunity, heritage tourism development, taps into of one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism market today. By working together and pooling resources, small towns and rural areas can develop clusters of attractions that then serve as a foundation for heritage tourism development. When these clusters are properly marketed and linked with the necessary tourism infrastructure of their more prosperous urban neighbors, the framework for an economic base is established.