‘An icon in the tourism world’ is gone. Her York County work will last generations.
If you weren’t born in York County, but heard about it and found your way here, there’s a good chance Jayne Scarborough had something to do with it.
Scarborough, a leading tourism advocate for York and surrounding counties for three decades, died Nov. 23.
“Jayne was a great friend and a tremendous person,” said Billy Dunlap, president and CEO for Visit York County. “She was an icon in the tourism world in South Carolina.”
Scarborough joined the Olde English District Tourism Commission in late 1992. The long-time executive director worked through this month, promoting tourism in Chester, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Union and York counties.
“Jayne so loved our seven-county region and her work here for 27 years,” said Kirk Johnston, chair of the district’s board of commissioners. “She will be deeply missed. She was a tireless cheerleader and advocate for tourism and economic development across South Carolina.”
People who worked with Scarborough tell the same story, of someone who didn’t simply do the work but enjoyed it, and saw how important it could be in promoting community.
“She promoted the tourism components of the Old English Tourism District with great passion,” Dunlap said. “Her impact on tourism in South Carolina will be felt for generations to come.”
Scarborough’s work included promotion of major tourism attractions, but also events in the some of the smallest towns and cities in her coverage area. She shared stories from Camden to Ridgeway, Winnsboro and Cheraw. From special events at Carowinds to horse races, jazz festivals and agritourism stops along the way.
She also cared deeply about the Revolutionary War heritage of the region. She was active in the Liberty Trail effort, recognizing battlefields of the south including several of the more than 200 battles and skirmishes in South Carolina from 1779 to 1782. The project started just this month.
While Scarborough had an eye for history and the arts, she also understood the funding needed to make them happen. She worked with many state leaders to secure grants and other funds to promote her area.
“Jayne was the driving force for tourism development in South Carolina’s Olde English District,” said Duane Parrish, director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism. “She will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by our state’s tourism industry.”
In 2014 York County Council realized it needed to revamp the way it determined how to spend hospitality tax money, a 2% charge on prepared food and drink in unincorporated areas. That money has to be used on projects aimed at tourism generation. The county brings in more than $2 million annually, but there was concern among competing projects how to allocate it.
Scarborough was a an initial member of the new committee set up to review requests and make recommendations to council. She worked on a smaller group within the committee to set criteria for organizations, festivals and other tourism groups in their funding applications.
In her time on that group, York County added major capital projects like the Lake Wylie Recreation Park, Comporium Athletic Park in Fort Mill and the water park at the Clover School District Community YMCA. All while continuing to promote once-a-year events and arts organizations supporting them.
“We can’t take credit for the projects that came to us, but we can take credit for the process,” said Watts Huckabee, who chaired the hospitality tax group.
Huckabee talks of a woman who didn’t show favortism and held groups accountable for spending. Who sacrificed and contributed for York County.
“Her existence here has made a huge difference,” Huckabee said.
Scarborough was committed and focused, he said. She was organized and thoughtful.
“I’ve had the privilege to work with a number of dynamic people in York County that are making a difference,” Huckabee said. “Jayne Scarborough was one of those individuals who was a server. She was a servant leader. Her passion on a daily basis was to give back and make a difference, and boy did she.”
Kristin Dillensnyder, with nearly two decades of tourism experience in three states, joined the Old English District as a consultant in October. Dillensnyder will lead the organization until it hires a new executive director.
Tourism leaders say the impact Scarborough leaves is wide and long-lasting, a legacy of showing off the best her region had to offer.
“She achieved in life what every great leader strives to do,” Parrish said. “She made a positive impact on those around her and she left behind a proud legacy.”
Greene Funeral Home in Rock Hill is handling arrangements.
