During coronavirus, Hilton Head leaders ask rentals to ‘cease and desist’ for 2 months
Hilton Head Island leaders took the governor’s order one step further Tuesday in limiting visitors to the island, urging all short-term rentals to stop accepting guests indefinitely during the coronavirus pandemic.
The rule directs any short-term rental business, including individuals who rent their home, to stop any reservation that hadn’t begun by Tuesday. It will stay in effect for 61 days or until the town’s state of emergency expires.
It’s stronger than the directive from S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, which prohibits rentals to visitors from coronavirus “hotspots,” but like the governor’s order, it exempts anyone who was already staying on the island.
The move is the council’s strongest stand on short-term rentals, although most companies were voluntarily complying with the town’s request to stop new reservations through the end of April.
Tuesday’s emergency ordinance applies to all rentals, including reservations that visitors made far in advance for occasions such as Easter and RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.
Council members have long voiced their concerns about rental companies and individual renters who are not complying with town requests and not refunding visitors’ deposits during the pandemic.
On Tuesday, council member Glenn Stanford suggested the town track which companies and individual rentals were not complying with town and state regulations.
“I’m very concerned about the bad actor property management companies and individuals that are taking a hard line and not refunding or cooperating with tenants,” he said.
He suggested the town make a “blacklist,” but did not recommend any action on the blacklist at the meeting.
Tourism and short-term rentals on Hilton Head
Occupancy rates — the percentage of hotel rooms with guests — is hovering around 5.1% this week, according to Hilton Head Island - Bluffton Chamber of Commerce officials in a Wednesday teleconference. Only 212 total guests are staying in the island’s hotels.
At this time last year, hotels were about 67% full, chamber president and CEO Bill Miles said.
Several large resorts have closed as a result of coronavirus, including Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, Spinnaker Resort, The Inn and Club at Harbour Town, Palmyra Resorts, The Days Inn, Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort, Montage Palmetto Bluff and Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island.
Some won’t reopen until the end of May.
The slow down is also evident in the amount of traffic (or lack thereof) on Hilton Head.
On April 6, 2019, the first Saturday of April last year, S.C. Department of Transportation traffic counters showed 56,898 vehicles passed over the Hilton Head bridges traveling both east and west.
On April 4, the first Saturday of April this year, 30,000 fewer vehicles made that journey — just 25,193 vehicles passed over the bridges.
Organizations responsible for marketing the island have also entirely changed their message.
The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, which receives over $2 million each year in town taxes to advertise the island, has stopped marketing with all “legacy media partners,” such as Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure, chamber spokesperson Charlie Clark said.
“We’re not encouraging travel right now.” she said. “There is no marketing push by the destination to encourage people to come to the island either digitally or socially.”
As of Tuesday, the chamber had not requested emergency marketing funds from the Town of Hilton Head Island, as it has done for hurricane recovery marketing the past several years.
Clark said the chamber has pulled all advertising “out of the northeast markets,” including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, to comply with official directives.
“As most destinations are doing, we’re simply maintaining awareness with beautiful scenic shots with uplifting messaging such as ... ‘Fortunately nature remains as beautiful as ever. What are you grateful for today? #virtualvacation,’” she said. “There’s no call to action to travel to Hilton Head Island.”
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This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 9:37 AM.
