You may have noticed that gas prices at the pumps across South Carolina have been edging toward $3.00 per gallon. Tourism officials agree that tourism should remain unaffected unless gas prices hover around the $3.50 mark.

"South Carolinians can expect to be paying more than $3.00 a gallon for the majority of 2011," Brendan Byrnes of AAA Carolinas as quoted to The Myrtle Beach Sun News. AAA tracks average gas prices and the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gas has gone from $2.51 a year ago to $2.92.

The increase in gas prices may affect visitors when it comes to dining and shopping while enjoying their South Carolina vacation.