Hardeeville launches promotion of the town's attributes to passing tourists

Visitors often travel through Hardeeville to get to destinations such as Hilton Head Island, Beaufort and Savannah.

To coax those travelers into staying and spending money in Hardeeville, the city's business and government leaders have launched a new tourism marketing campaign.

"They've probably blown right through Hardeeville for years," said Andrew Richard, branch manager for SCB&T in Hardeeville and president of the Greater Hardeeville Chamber of Commerce. "We wanted to bring it to their attention, 'Hey, we're here.' "

Dubbed "Stay Here-Visit There," the campaign is aimed at cost-conscious travelers and formally launched Monday. It includes five billboards on Interstate 95, free-distribution booklets and training for the city's motel and restaurant personnel.

Organizers have printed 21,000 copies of a 48-page "Hardeeville Cost-Conscious Discovery Guide" to be placed in information centers in South Carolina and Georgia and at the various locations in the city.

The campaign,primarily funded by accommodations taxes, will cost about $35,000 to $40,000, Hardeeville Mayor Bronco Bostick said.

Hardeeville hadn't done much to market itself in the past, said Glen McCaskey, a Hilton Head-based consultant who crafted the campaign for the chamber.

The chamber, which was inactive for several years, revived itself about a year ago and took over as Hardeeville's designated marketing organization from the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, he said. The chamber contributed toward the campaign, but Richard did not know the specific amount.

The campaign's organizers don't know how much business the city might have lost by not touting itself as aggressively in the past, but they believe Hardeeville can capitalize on its proximity to the area's more established destinations by highlighting its attractively priced accommodations.

"It really hadn't taken advantage of its location," McCaskey said. "They have a good quality product that's considerably under the market value."

Hardeeville's 13 motels, where a room with breakfast can be had for as little as $32 per night, should attract vacationers as well as young families, retirees or prospective retirees looking for places to relocate, McCaskey said.

Charlie Clark, a spokeswoman for the Hilton Head chamber, said there's plenty of room for Hardeeville to generate new business without detracting from nearby Bluffton, which her organization is charged with marketing.

"It's a big pie," Clark said. "We think tourism anywhere in the region is a good thing."