Was 2020 tourism on Hilton Head a boom or a bust? The numbers may surprise you
Hilton Head Island saw a subdued Easter weekend, a packed Memorial Day, a tempered 4th of July week and a busy October in 2020 — a roller coaster of a disruption that only COVID-19 could have dealt to a usually reliable tourism season.
When all was said and done, occupancy on the island in 2020 was down only 6.9%. Compare that to a 40% decrease in occupancy in New York City, according to STR metrics for both destinations.
Despite is resiliency, Hilton Head’s tourism scene and its economic lifeline may be forever changed.
Visitors don’t just want a beachfront hotel room for the weekend anymore.
They want a home with their own kitchen, ample space to dine outside in restaurants and a plethora of outdoor activities. Those changes meant new business opportunities and construction for some island companies but left a gaping hole in business for others.
The total estimated economic impact loss in Beaufort County from March 8 to July 11 was $310 million.
And local cases of COVID-19 were also tied to travel to and from the area.
Beaufort County saw spikes in new cases in July and December; both spikes were attributed to holiday travel. But new cases hit a trough in fall, as the summer tourism season wore on in what one restaurant executive called “an endless summer.”
Desirable weather helped facilitate outdoor dining and activities where visitors could remain distanced from others.
When we look back at the least predictable year in tourism history, here’s what industry leaders say happened:
Where people stayed: Rentals
Throughout the year, home and condo rentals on Hilton Head consistently fared better than hotels and rentals across the state.
While South Carolina’s short-term rentals were about 72% booked for July, the occupancy rate on Hilton Head was 90.1%. Both rates were about the same as in July 2019.
In the fall, rentals exploded with everything from four-day getaways to months-long stays as children went to virtual school and upper and middle-class white collar workers discovered they could work from their island home.
“September was one of the most highly occupied months ever, and that bled over into October,” Dru Brown, managing partner of Island Time Hilton Head told The Island Packet at the time.
Once winter rolled around, the boom seen in summer and fall tapered. But the island didn’t empty out.
November home and villa occupancy was up by 45%, but hotel occupancy was up by only 18.6%, the Chamber of Commerce statistics showed.
The rentals from families with means translated to revenue for those companies and even for the island’s hotels.
According to chamber statistics, the average daily rate charged at island lodging was up 12% in 2020.
What people did: Spend time outside
Perhaps the biggest boom in 2020 was that of outdoor activities businesses — a Hilton Head staple that the island was well positioned to take advantage of.
“We were all extremely surprised about how busy (our courses were) and how much golf was in demand,” Cary Corbitt, president of the South Carolina Lowcountry Golf Course Owners Association, told The Island Packet. “From the middle of May to the end of the year, it was like the summer tourism season that just continued on.”
Although some golf courses closed or rotated opening days, the state never forced courses to close.
More unique experiences, like horseback riding, have also seen a steady build.
Cheryl Clements, who works as a trail guide at Lawton Stables in Sea Pines, said she’s spent the past seven months guiding New York and New Jersey families on tours of the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.
“The tourism has been, for us and the horses, kind of year-round except for when we were closed. They do want to be outdoors and they love it here,” she said of the visitors from the north.
In other sectors, outdoor rentals boomed as families looked to spend time outside exploring the island and its waterways.
Nate Jones, the general manager of the Broad Creek Marina, Zipline Hilton Head and Aerial Adventure, said the marina business was strong because people had more time to take their boats out. While Aerial Adventure and Zipline Hilton Head remain closed due to construction, he said the Up The Creek restaurant at the marina had “the best October we’ve ever had.”
Things were similar on the other side of Broad Creek.
Mike Overton, president and CEO of Outside Brands, said last year set records for his bike, boat, kayak and paddeboard rental operations in Shelter Cove Marina.
“In hindsight, it turned out that it was better than expected,” Overton said. “We changed a lot of how we operated. A lot of our experiences went to private (trips) versus shared.”
Jim Hall, who co-owns Hilton Head Bicycle Co., said his shop was sold out of bikes from June through August.
Typically, the shop sells out just once or twice a year around the July 4th weekend.
“People were still going to go on vacation, they had to escape and get out of their homes,” Hall said. “Packing everybody up in the family van and going to the beach where you could be outside seemed like a practical alternative.”
How people ate: Outside
In spring, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster closed restaurants for six weeks. When restaurants reopened for outdoor seating on May 4, some owners of island eateries chose to remain closed. Others spread tables into otherwise empty outdoor spaces and hoped for the best.
The following week, restaurants were allowed to reopen for indoor seating if they followed more restrictions, though many restaurants served more guests outside than indoors throughout the year.
Island restaurants reported a busy summer and surprisingly steady fall.
“We really saw a nice steady build through the summer, but the capacities indoors kept the numbers just moderate,” Alan Wolf, director of operations at the SERG Restaurant Group, said in a Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce teleconference in October. “We were really happily surprised at the end of August, ... and now into October, that it seems like an endless summer.”
While restaurants in cities had to co-opt bike lanes to create small seating areas, many SERG restaurants on Hilton Head are anchored by patios that hold dozens of tables.
Wolf said the restaurant group as a whole saw sales drop around 15% for most of the summer, but better-than-expected fall sales allowed the restaurants to “claw back” from their six-week closures in spring.
Toward the end of the year, mild weather helped keep diners outside. Not until the start of 2021 did a three-week rain spree force many diners indoors.
How people got here: Driving
Island tourism officials have always considered Hilton Head a “drive market,” or a destination where a majority of visitors arrive by car.
Since Hilton Head has only one entry and exit point, looking at traffic data from the S.C. Department of Transportation helps explain how many people are moving to and from the island on any given day.
While previous years’ peak traffic days remained consistent in their upward climb, 2020 threw a wrench in traffic counts.
In April, the day with the most traffic moving to and from the island barely crested 40,000. That’s in comparison to April 2019, where the peak traffic day saw around 68,400 cars cross the bridges.
Traffic patterns rebounded quickly after April and were, for the most part, back to normal the remainder of the year.
Air traffic was much more varied, though. In April and May, traffic at the Hilton Head Island Airport was down 95% compared to 2019.
But, like car traffic, it rebounded. The airport ended the year down 37%, according to Beaufort County Airports Director Jon Rembold. Most airports say their traffic down by around 50%, he said.
“The summer and the end of the summer through October were pretty strong,” he said. “Nearly neck and neck with 2019.”
And the airport saw a surprisingly strong source of customers —people with private planes.
“There’s some pent-up demand, and some folks who had the means to fly private or charter still came to the island,” Rembold said in September. Some private flyers may have been considering international trips but then settled on a beach vacation closer to home, he said.
What to expect in 2021
Chamber statistics show that bookings for the first half of 2021 are up 4% from this time last year before the pandemic hit.
Although the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing PGA Tour event will go forward as scheduled in April, it will allow only a limited number of fans to attend.
Still, tourism leaders are optimistic.
“For many years, Hilton Head has been known for its beauty, nature, golf and beach,” Outside Hilton Head owner Overton said. “But people are also looking at it as a safe place. I think this year is going to be a good year.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
