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Capital City Lake Murray Country reports rising visitor numbers, national media exposure and new events
Summary
Capital City Lake Murray Country presented county council with tourism metrics showing sharp increases in digital impressions and vacation rental room nights, outlined major upcoming events and said it is expanding marketing tools and partnerships; the organization requested continued county support.
Miriam Atria, president and CEO of Capital City Lake Murray Country (the county’s tourism office), and Susan O’Kane, the organization’s new director of operations, gave an update to Lexington County council on tourism activity, marketing metrics and planned events.
Atria said the organization’s digital footprint and earned media have grown substantially. She reported — citing the organization’s marketing partners — national digital print impressions and a stated advertising value, an increase in website users (reported as ~420k new users), and social media impressions (reported as about 7.4 million). Atria attributed the metrics to a combination of organic earned media and targeted marketing partnerships.
Using third‑party data sources (Atria named Zartico and AirDNA), the organization reported 251,787 vacation‑rental room nights in Lexington County for 2024 and 616,804 room nights for the Lake Murray market for 2024, which the presentation said generated more than $51 million in accommodation spend. Atria and O’Kane said 71.8% of visitors are from out of state according to their vendor data. The presenters emphasized the data is vendor‑sourced and attributed to AirDNA/Zartico.
Atria described several upcoming or recent events that the tourism office is promoting: Major League Fishing, Bassmasters and other regional fishing tournaments (with television exposure and community events), the American Bass Anglers‘ military‑focused event at the DoubleTree by Hilton, and the Southeastern Barbecue Showdown — a culinary festival first held in 2024 that the presenters said drew about 3,000 attendees and produced national television exposure; the next large barbecue event is planned for April 2026. Atria said the organization’s marketing budget is approximately $1.8 million and that the office requested $304,000 in state funding at the State House.
Susan O’Kane said she is working on broadcast partnerships (WIS TV Playcation / Soda City Living segments) and local event promotion; she described the office’s data tools to refine marketing and target high‑value feeder markets. Committee members asked for the tourism office to coordinate with county online resources (for example, the county’s Lexington County Outdoors portal) and to include messaging on responsible conduct on Lake Murray during major events.
The committee received the update with thanks; Atria and O’Kane asked for continued county support and partnership on marketing and event logistics.
Speakers credited in the meeting included Miriam Atria (Capital City Lake Murray Country, president & CEO) and Susan O’Kane (director of operations).
