Colleton River marsh

South Carolina’s Council on Competitiveness, also known as New Carolina, has “declared independence from mediocrity.”

We, the tenacious people of New Carolina, declare independence from mediocrity. We will reach beyond past mistakes and build on historic successes toward a bright future that lifts our families, our schools, our businesses. From this day forward, we will demonstrate a new will and forge a new way. With tireless passion, bold leadership and decisive action, we will silence the nay-sayers, the doubters, the cynics. We will encourage the innovators and teachers, and celebrate the courageous. In doing so, we will become a leader in public education, entrepreneurial success, personal income and quality of life. Each day we will reach for, and push each other, until one day the world will acknowledge us as ‘The New Land of Opportunity’. New energy. New ideas. New action. New Jobs.

While platitudes typed in the dark of night won’t get the job done, recognizing real world opportunities will.

Kirsten Singleton, reporting for Bluffton Today, points out that New Carolina claims there are immense opportunities in travel and tourism throughout the Palmetto state. This, I’m inclined to believe.

In a report commissioned by New Carolina, Marion Edmonds, director for South Carolina’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism said, “In almost every geographic area of the state there are some tourism products that could be developed that would strengthen the tourism appeal of that area of region. The state has vast natural and cultural resources that offer opportunities for development—as yet unrealized.”

Among the recommendations for Hilton Head Island and the rest of Beaufort County (where BFG is headquartered): access road improvements, Bluffton urban regeneration, Palmetto Bluff Resort development and expanded ecotourism.

More than 10.5 million visitors come to Beaufort County annualy—an average of 28,972 people a day. Tourism accounts for a whopping 60% of Hilton Head Island’s economy, providing $1.5 billion in revenue annually.

Susan Thomas, vice president of the area’s Visitor & Convention Bureau believes the area needs to put greater emphasis on the Gullah story. It’s also important to use environmentaly friendly building methods in hope of preserving the natural beauty that brings people to the Lowcountry in the first place, she said.