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The chamber could get millions more if the state allows the town to consider a sales tax increase to fund tourism marketing and capital projects.
Here is how chamber officials plan to spend that money.
DISASTER MARKETING FUNDS
The request: The chamber received a $300,000 special allocation from a fund set up so the town can market itself after a disaster. Council members said the economy is grave enough to justify using the money.
The plan: Chamber officials plan to spend the money on an advertising campaign focusing on the Atlanta area.
They also plan to conduct some Internet advertising elsewhere in the Southeast, such as North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. They might also add Washington or Philadelphia, said Susan Thomas, vice president of the chamber's Visitor & Convention Bureau.
The vast majority of the money will be spent on ads on luxury-oriented Web sites, Thomas said. The campaign also will include digital billboards at nine "premium locations" in metro Atlanta.
Much of the campaign will emphasize Hilton Head's accessibility.
Sample images of the billboards include:
• A couple relaxing on a boat beside the phrase "Getting here is easy. Leaving, not so much."
• A family on the beach beside the phrase "Summer's close. So is Hilton Head Island."
A 15-second television spot on CBS will emphasize the same theme in the New York, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte and Pittsburgh markets, Thomas said. The spot will be paid for in part by a $300,000 grant earlier this from the town's accommodations tax revenues.
The chamber is turning its focus to Atlanta this year after spending $200,000 last year on a similar campaign targeting Charlotte.
Chamber officials chose Atlanta in part because state tourism officials won't do as much promotion in Atlanta as they did last year, Thomas said. Atlanta is considered strategic because it is within driving distance and has direct flights to Hilton Head. New people are also moving in and out of the Atlanta market all the time, so it presents a good opportunity for the chamber to reach a mix of new and repeat travelers, she said.
PROPOSED SALES TAX
The request: The chamber supports a bill that would allow Beaufort County municipalities to impose a sales tax of as much as 1 percent to pay for tourism marketing and tourism-related capital projects. Enacting a "tourism development fee" would raise the sales tax in any of the county's municipalities from 7 percent to 8 percent on most items other than groceries, gasoline, prescription medication and Internet sales for as long as 10 years. Although the bill could apply to any of the county's municipalities, chamber officials say they primarily seek the tax on Hilton Head.
The bill -- sponsored by state Reps. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, and Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head Island -- passed the S.C. House of Representatives on Jan. 25 and has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
If state lawmakers approve the bill and Town Council imposes the tax, chamber officials estimate it would bring in about $8.9 million per year, at least half of which would go to tourism marketing.
A municipality could spend:
• As much as 30 percent -- about $2.7 million in Hilton Head's case -- on property tax relief, which supporters say would offset the cost of the sales tax increase for property owners.
Chamber officials estimate a land owner in Hilton Head Plantation, for example, would see property taxes decrease by 5 percent to 10 percent.
• As much as 20 percent -- about $1.8 million in Hilton Head's case -- on capital projects, such as beach renourishment or a museum.
The remainder would go to tourism advertising. The town would pick no more than two organizations to handle the marketing, as the bill is currently written.
The plan: If the sales tax is levied, chamber officials want to both "shore up" Hilton Head's standing among its core markets of leisure travelers and families while also bringing in new visitors.
Although the chamber would develop any new campaigns in consultation with the island's business leaders, chamber officials are eager to grow market share in segments such as younger travelers, the "super affluent" and those interested in nature, social responsibility and family reunions, Thomas said.
Better marketing to those types of travelers could help Hilton Head better weather the "off" and "shoulder" or interim seasons, Thomas said.
