Can Hilton Head chamber ‘save our summer’? It wants nearly $500K in taxes to try
In what is now routine following natural disasters for the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, the group has requested $470,000 from the Town of Hilton Head Island to market the island to tourists nationwide.
The request, the chamber’s largest ever, would be used to launch a marketing campaign titled “Save the Summer Campaign – Escape to America’s Favorite Island,” according to a letter from Chamber CEO and President Bill Miles addressed to Town Manager Steve Riley.
In recent years, the chamber has requested additional funds from the town post-disaster advertising budget — $1 million funded by local hospitality and accommodations taxes. Combined, those taxes are a 1% fee imposed on all hotel stays and prepared food and beverage, according to the most recent town budget.
The request for coronavirus marketing funds dwarfs the $175,000 solicitations after Hurricane Dorian and Tropical Storm Florence, and also outweighs the chamber’s ask following Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which demolished parts of the island.
For the first time, the town council must vote on whether to award the money. In the past, Riley has unilaterally approved the requests. Riley said the council will discuss and vote on the allocation June 16 because it’s not as time-sensitive as past requests following hurricanes, and council members want to discuss the marketing plan, which he said some have called “vague.”
Since the start of the pandemic in mid-March, town and chamber officials have compared it to a never-ending hurricane. While island businesses have gotten creative in their attempts to stay open, most businesses represented by the chamber have had to close for weeks due to the virus.
But the money wouldn’t be used to distribute aid to businesses.
The chamber’s request comes through its visitor and convention bureau, which receives over $2 million in accommodations taxes and supplemental grants each year for marketing campaigns to bring tourists to the island.
The bureau has come under fire in recent years for refusing to provide invoices for how it spends its money, a decision the South Carolina Supreme Court has affirmed.
The chamber’s request to Hilton Head comes on the heels of a similar request to the Town of Bluffton for $82,000, which the town council approved. Not all council members were convinced the chamber was serving Bluffton as individually as it does Hilton Head.
“My concern was that the way [the chamber] used their demographics, it didn’t appear that they were talking about Bluffton,” Mayor Pro Tem Fred Hamilton said Thursday. “I know they advertise for Bluffton and Hilton Head, and I want to make sure that Bluffton was captured separately.”
How will the money be used?
According to the marketing plan submitted to Hilton Head’s Town Council, the “Save the Summer” campaign would target tourists in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Georgia and Tennessee.
The chamber’s plan says it would use the cash to boost its existing marketing plan, which focuses on selling Hilton Head’s “pristine beaches, 24 golf courses, world-class resorts, water activities, outdoor recreation and dining options.”
According to the marketing plan, the chamber would spend the most money on visits by media and influencers to the island in exchange for their stories and social media posts.
Here’s how the chamber would use the money:
- Paid Media/PR/Influencers = $100,000
- Video production = $70,000
- Social Advertising/Remarketing = $95,000
- Display Remarketing = $70,000
- SEM (search engine marketing) = $95,000
- Campaign Production = $40,000
- Total = $470,000
The chamber’s plan does not include a kickoff date, and says “all tactics, timing and partnership recommendations will need to be assessed in real time as restrictions are lifted given the reopening process is fluid.”
Marketing during coronavirus vs. after hurricanes
In 2016, the chamber received $300,000 from the town to recover from Hurricane Matthew, according to Steven Markiw, deputy director of finance. Hurricane Matthew did an estimated $51.5 million in damage, and Hilton Head was evacuated for at least five days.
After Tropical Storm Irma in 2017, the chamber received $149,839 for post-hurricane advertising, the Island Packet reported. Irma damaged 203 residential and commercial structures when it hit Hilton Head, and the island was under a mandatory evacuation order for three days.
Although Tropical Storm Florence caused no structural damage, the chamber received an additional $175,000 in 2018. At the time, chamber officials said the amount was necessary because of the increasing pattern of named storms impacting South Carolina.
In 2019, the chamber received $175,000 to market the island following Hurricane Dorian, which caused an island-wide evacuation, downed trees and power lines in early September.
What’s next?
The discussion of the request was originally slated for Tuesday, but has since been removed from the council meeting agenda and put off until the June 16 meeting.
“We’re temporarily hitting the pause button on the crisis marketing request,” Miles wrote to Riley on Friday. “We’re monitoring reservation data, research and pandemic outlook closely with our partners.”
Public comment on the request and marketing plan can be submitted on the town’s website in the Open Town Hall HHI.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
