Rock Hill BMX track upgrades will bring in tourists worldwide. It won’t be alone.
A York County site known to draw up to tens of thousands of visitors from around the world just got a cash infusion, and it likely won’t be the last.
The cities of Rock Hill and Mauldin and Berkeley County all received grants Thursday from South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism aimed at improving publicly-owned tourism destinations.
The grant money, called Undiscovered South Carolina, will help communities like Rock Hill “put their big ideas and hidden gems on the map,” SCPRT director Duane Parrish said Thursday.
Rock Hill got a $192,000 grant for its more than $380,000 renovation project at the city’s BMX Supercross and Pump tracks. The city will pay the other half. The tracks’ renovations are based on requests from competitive riders to meet world-class BMX event standards.
Rock Hill has held regional, national and world championship events at the site since it opened in 2014. John Taylor, director of the city parks, recreation and tourism department, said the grant will allow Rock Hill to keep bringing events like the already planned 2024 UCI BMX World Championships.
“Developing, implementing, and maintaining a successful tourism product is often a long-term, complex and expensive process,” Parrish said.
Tourism in York County
Rock Hill and York County have long been key regional players in tourism.
Carowinds amusement park in Fort Mill drives tourist dollars and has for decades.
Rock Hill began a local sports tourism wave building Cherry Park, and continued it with Manchester Meadows, the BMX site, velodrome and the more recent Rock Hill Sports & Event Center.
But Rock Hill and York County leaders say the biggest draw is still to come: the Carolina Panthers headquarters project in Rock Hill, off Interstate 77.
Visit York County this week formed the nonprofit Partners in Tourism Foundation to facilitate development projects that will drive economic tourism to York County. The Carolina Panthers, Duke Energy and Morton & Gettys law firm are founding partners.
“With the right partners in the room, the sky is the limit for our Rock Hill development and for this community,” Panthers COO Mark Hart said.
Tourists spent $272 million in 2019 in York County, according to Visit York County.
“The amenities that define a community and attract visitors to an area are also the same factors that will attract and retain a healthy workforce pipeline and create a place where people want to not just visit, but work, live and do business,” Billy Dunlap, Visit York County president and CEO, said.
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Rock Hill BMX track upgrades will bring in tourists worldwide. It won’t be alone.."
