Hilton Head leaders to hotels, rentals: Stop telling April vacationers to come here
Hilton Head Island residents and leaders have issued a strong message to visitors: Don’t come here.
Endless threads on Facebook make the message rather direct, but Hilton Head Island Town Council members voted Monday to encourage rental companies and hotels to stop taking new reservations through the end of April and to accurately portray the reality of limited life on the island.
The move comes after weeks of criticism by residents that rental companies continue to market the island to visitors and capitalize on the time off some of them have due to the coronavirus outbreak.
One rental company advertised weekly specials in a marketing email blast. “The beach is still open!” it read, infuriating residents who could no longer use the beach because public access points were closed by the town.
Hotel guests at some beachfront resorts also found similar signs posted on pool doors that encouraged them to enjoy the beach.
While rental and vacation companies may have wanted to show that all was well on Hilton Head, town leaders said the new focus should be on discouraging visitors.
The town will now urge rental agencies, real estate companies, hotels, motels and individuals who rent their property to stop taking new reservations through April 30 and to advertise the reality on Hilton Head: fewer restaurant choices, no public beach access and a focus on locals staying home.
In the Hilton Head resolutions, the operative word appears to be “urge.” All three passed Monday were to “urge” action, which is less enforceable than a demand.
Meanwhile, other tourist destinations have taken stronger action.
Beaches in Florida are closed to all, and Myrtle Beach officials ordered hotels and accommodations services to reschedule or cancel all reservations from March 28 through April 30.
How many fewer people are here?
Last week, 12 major rental companies agreed to take no new reservations through April 9. Guests with existing plans were still checked in, but most companies said they’d turn away anyone new.
On Monday, Town Manager Steve Riley said the island appeared to have fewer visitors than normal.
He said that of the 400 rentals managed by The Sea Pines Resort, only 147 were occupied.
Of those, only 41 were short-term rentals or vacationers. The remaining 106 were occupied by the owner of the rental property.
In addition, traffic to the island has slowed.
About 20,000 fewer vehicles came onto the island last weekend compared to the same weekend in 2019, according to S.C. Department of Transportation traffic counters. In 2019 on the third Saturday in March, 55,448 vehicles came onto the island. In that same time period this year, 34,101 vehicles drove onto Hilton Head.
Out-of-state targeting
At Monday’s meeting, Hilton Head Island Mayor John McCann said sheriff’s deputies would start placing notes on cars with out-of-state plates encouraging people to self-quarantine.
While he said that’s likely to start this weekend, the public shouldn’t expect deputies out papering entire parking lots or neighborhoods.
“Deputy sheriffs have been provided informational handouts from DHEC to hand out if they’re confronted with that situation, if they get a complaint about someone failing to self-quarantine, and there’s an educational opportunity,” Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Maj. Bob Bromage said.
But some have taken the “education opportunities” into their own hands.
Last weekend, residents in several Facebook groups shared photos of cars with out-of-state plates or posted comments like “ALL TOURISTS NEED TO GO BACK TO WHEREVER THEY CAME FROM!”
One resident left a note on a car with a New York license plate. The note said that the Sheriff’s Office and security “have been notified of your location. Please stay healthy + please follow quarantine guidelines. During this time HHI IS NOT a vacation destination any more than NYC!”
Bromage said the person who received the note has been on Hilton Head since January and was not ordered to quarantine.
“At the end of this pandemic, there’s got to be some humanity left. We can’t treat people like this,” Bromage said. “Posting license plates on social media ... that’s not who we are. It’s a product of the stress. The people that they are illuminating are under the same stress and are going through the same thing.”
Should I still vacation on Hilton Head?
While it’s a deeply personal decision to choose whether to travel, many have taken to Facebook groups and even The Island Packet to ask whether they should cancel upcoming trips to Hilton Head.
Here are some facts that may help you make your decision:
- Island restaurants and bars have been forced to close dining rooms as of March 18.
- Hilton Head Island public beach access points and parking lots were closed for 60 days starting March 21. A statewide order to do the same came March 30.
- Law enforcement and emergency services are active and responding to calls.
- Rentals from 12 different companies have paused new reservations until at least April 9.
- RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, originally set for April 13-19, has been canceled.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 6:22 PM.
