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National Geographic magazine's low ranking of Hilton Head Island mystifies local tourism officials

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Here's a quiz for all the travelers out there: What do Hilton Head Island, Jamaica and Phuket, Thailand, have in common?

Sure, all have a natural beauty that draws scads of visitors every year.

But according to a survey of environmentalists, tourism industry experts and other researchers, all three also face rampant over-development that is burying their natural charm, threatening their environmental assets and sucking the cultural life off the islands.

All the destinations were labeled "in serious trouble" and landed near the bottom of a ranking of 111 islands in the November/December issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine. The magazine surveyed 522 experts from around the world, many of whom had unpleasant things to say about the second-largest barrier island along the East Coast.

"This island is the poster boy for tourism development gone wild," one wrote.

"Classic over-development of a natural wonder," another said.

"Culturally sterile and deliberately elitist."

"Soulless"

Ouch.

The ranking certainly comes as a surprise to anyone who has tried to so much as put a sign in front of a business on the island. The thick tome of development restrictions regulates everything from density to the color of a roof. You can't cut a tree down without getting a permit.

The town has even spent more than $141 million to preserve more than 1,000 acres from development through its land-buying program.

"People love to make a comment that it's the one place they've been to where you can drive right past a Wal-Mart and not even notice it's there," said John Safay, a town councilman who has traveled all around the world for business and pleasure.

So what gives?

The magazine says the rankings will raise awareness of issues facing global destinations and shouldn't be seen as the final word on an island's health.

"We'd like to get these issues on the table for public discussion," said Jonathan Tourtellot, the director of the Center for Sustainable Destinations for the National Geographic Society and author of the list. "In a way, any island can change its score, preferably upward, in deciding what its future course will be."

But putting those issues on the table by comparing Hilton Head, which is attached to a major interstate system, to far-flung islands accessible only by air just isn't fair, said Charlie Clark, vice president of communications for the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.

"It's extremely subjective," Clark said of the rankings. "And, quite frankly, eco-elitist."

Hilton Head, simply, is going to attract more people than the more remote places higher on the list, Clark said.

"We do have 2.5 million visitors per year, but still manage to strike a balance from an environmental standpoint," Clark said.

ANYWHERE ELSE, USA?

Hilton Head received good marks for its pristine beaches and attention to aesthetics, unlike other places in the "in serious trouble" range.

But the general impression seemed to be the island has become just too much like Anywhere Else, USA.

"It's kind of the only island that was really criticized for having lost its soul," Tourtellot said. "If you want to go to something that is filled with South Carolina Lowcountry tradition and environment, you're not going to find a lot of that here."

The panel weighed in on environmental condition, aesthetics, cultural and social impacts, tourism management, and "built heritage" such as archaeological landmarks.

Kenneth Backman, a tourism researcher and professor at Clemson University, was one of the panelists who weighed in on Hilton Head. A frequent visitor, Backman still sees pressure for development.

"When the Frasers started putting in Hilton Head, they were at the cutting edge of resort development," Backman said.

Now there seems to be less of a focus on exactly how much population and tourism the island can take and still provide a good experience, he said.

VARIETY OF OFFERINGS

Town councilman Safay has visited several places on the list that ranked higher than Hilton Head, including Santa Catalina Island, Calif.; Phuket; and Capri, Italy. Those places are nice, but they don't have quite the appeal of family-friendly Hilton Head, he said.

In fact, Hilton Head made the top 10 list for U.S. beaches on www.womansday.com and the top 10 family beaches for www.shermanstravel.com this year, according to the chamber of commerce.

Key West, which barely outscored Hilton Head, is full of tourist traps and booze; Sanibel Island, Fla., scored much higher but lacks even a little bit of excitement, he said.

"I really can't think of any place that I think is nicer than Hilton Head overall when it comes to all the variety of things we have here," Safay said. "No place is perfect, and there are things that we have that are not perfect. But when you balance things out, I think it's just a more comfortable place to come."

The "elitist" gated communities also serve a purpose, said John Curry, president of The Curry Co. and a world-travel hospitality consultant.

The gated communities have aided in keeping growth under control and in preserving the feel of the community.

"The main thing they are missing is that the gated communities ... are pretty much the way they were 20 years ago and will be pretty much the same way 20 years from now," Curry said.

THE RANKINGS

National Geographic Traveler magazine polled a panel of 522 tourism consultants, authors, journalists, geographers, conservationists, academics and other researchers to rate 111 island destinations. The islands were ranked on "integrity of place" factors such as environmental condition, uniqueness, heritage, aesthetics, cultural impact and tourism management.

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