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The Myrtle Beach Mafia is certainly not a new term. It is also not a term we invented. When we began investigating this article, we searched the term ”Myrtle Beach Mafia” on the internet. This result and this result returned immediately.
The first result was posted online back in 2007: ”Sarah Pfieffer | Mar 1, 2007 My husband and I have taken several trips to Myrtle Beach through Expedia over the past few years. Yesterday, we were notified that the Myrtle Beach Mafia is trying to keep travel sites like Expedia out of Myrtle Beach. I have heard that the head of the mafia in Myrtle Beach is Matthew Brittain, head of the Brittain family syndicate. I have stayed at their hotels before, including the Breakers and the Long Bay Resort, and my husband has booked through their Golf Holiday tee links system, but we are now concerned as we do not want to give money to anything that is not above board. Does anyone in Toledo know about a Hotel Syndicate known as the Myrtle Beach Mafia?”
matthew-brittain (1)Matthew Brittain is among the most powerful hotel managers in Myrtle Beach. He heads a property management corporation called Brittain Resort Management Corporation. The hotels his group runs include: Beach Vacations (MyrtleBeachCondoRentals.com), Bay View Resort, Breakers Resort, Caribbean Resort & Villas, Compass Cove Resort, Hotel Suites Of The Market Common, Island Vista Resort, Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort, Long Bay Resort, Mar Vista Grande, Myrtle Beach Condo Rentals, Myrtlewood Villas, North Beach Plantation, Ocean Reef Resort, Paradise Resort, River Oaks & Grande Villas, and True Blue Plantation. Ownership of this group helped envision the Tourist Tax into existence. A company website prominently boasts of 10,000 rooms to choose among.
In 2005/2006, Matthew’s brother David was the board chairman for VisitMyrtleBeach.com (The Myrtle Beach Chamber). Now deceased, David envisioned the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Tourist Tax along with Woody Crosby (also deceased). Managers of the hotels listed above strongly pushed the tourist tax concept to local officials. Later, over $324,000 was paid out to local politicians and a candidate for the S.C. Governor’s office through a clearing house set up by VisitMyrtleBeach.com. Councilmen were paid after they passed the tax and it became law. The source of the funds has never been determined. In elections since, those same, “liked minded hotels, Brittain family members, and business associates” have become among the largest contributors to city councilmen, the mayor, and U.S. Congressman Tom Rice.
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