TORONTO — Myrtle Beach’s famed Can-Am Days Festival is coming back for another year of value-added deals and promotions for Canadian visitors.

Taking place March 12-20, 2022, Can-Am Days, now in its 61^st year, features special events and activities exclusively for Canadians, hotel discounts of up to 55%, as well as up to 50% off select live entertainment, attractions and restaurants. This year’s batch of deals includes everything from 25% off admission at Barefoot Queen Riverboat to a special rate of $32 per person at the Legends in Concert. Most participating venues only require a Canadian ID. For a full list of deals click here.

“We’re very excited to welcome our Canadian friends back to the beach for the 61^st annual Can-Am Days,” said Julie Ellis, Public Relations Manager at Visit Myrtle Beach during a Visit Myrtle Beach virtual media event yesterday, Feb. 3. “To help our Canadian visitors overcome the exchange rate challenges that have always been, the Myrtle Beach Area businesses have worked together to create a solution. We really appreciate our Canadian visitors and we’re ready to safely welcome those who are eager to resume international travel, create new memories or revisit familiar traditions along our 100 kilometres of gorgeous coastline.”

HEALTH & SAFETY

Although there isn’t a city-wide mask mandate in the Myrtle Beach Area, Ellis noted that there are still several places where masks are mandatory, including the airport, The Coast RTA bus service, and the Myrtle Beach Area Visitors Center. Presently, proof of vaccination is not required at local businesses.

To accommodate Canadians who require a PCR test to return home to Canada, as per the Government of Canada’s pre-arrival testing mandate for all trips, Regional Health and Testing on Broadway Street in Myrtle Beach offers PCR tests for approximately $140.

WHAT’S NEW

Myrtle Beach is brimming with new attractions and hotels, both already open and expected to open this year and next. Here’s what’s new:

• The Funplex Myrtle Beach, opening for the season in March, is a new amusement park located steps from the beach on 14^th Designed for families, it offers seven rides and a walk-up bar and restaurant.
• Huntington Beach State Park Nature Center, a new $1.2 million facility in Murrells Inlet, features a birding area classroom and an exhibit area with live animals.

• New craft breweries have opened recently, including the Grand Strand Brewing Company in downtown Myrtle Beach, and the Crooked Hammock Brewery in Barefoot Landing featuring indoor and outdoor seating for more than 500 guests, firepits, hammocks and board games.
• The Myrtle Beach Skywheel, a 187-foot-tall observation wheel, has undergone major renovations in celebration of its 10^th anniversary in 2021. The wheel hub now features a new wheel hub, refurbished interiors and exteriors of its 42 climate-controlled gondolas and, most noteworthy, a state-of-the-art lighting system that allows for more dynamic light shows.
• Homewood Suites by Hilton Myrtle Beach Coastal Grand Mall, which opened its doors in 2021, features 105 apartment-style guestrooms, over 600 square feet of event space, and is ideally situated within 15 minutes of five golf courses.
• The reconstruction of the Surfside Beach pier, destroyed during Hurricane Matthew in 2016, continues. After breaking ground on the pier in December 2020, the project is expected to take about 18 months to complete, at which point it will be able to withstand hurricane forces. A new restaurant and vendor space will also be included.
• Springhill Suites and Courtyard Marriott is a new dual-branded offering by Marriott coming to the Ocean Boulevard area in spring 2022. The 26-storey new development will replace the recently demolished Breakers Resort, and will boast a pool, lazy river and rooftop seating with fire pits.
• The Landmark Resort will debut the new H2OASIS Waterpark in summer 2022. The 9,800-square-foot facility will feature three 40-foot-tall waterslides, a fun kid’s slide and a jungle-themed water play area.
• The Hangout at Broadway at the Beach is set to open in late spring with a new restaurant, retail and entertainment venue. Live music will be available year round, both indoors and outdoors at this new 40,000-square-foot complex.

Porter Airlines will offer nonstop service from Toronto to Myrtle Beach between March 9 and May 28 on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For more information on travel to Myrtle Beach go to www.visitmyrtlebeach.com.