Hilton Head Island ranks 6th in family-friendly US destinations in new travel guide

Get ready for more beach traffic.

Hilton Head Island was ranked the sixth-best destination in the USA for a family-friendly vacation in Go Koala’s 2021 Family-Friendly Travel Guide.

The guide includes 43 popular vacation destinations across the country.

Go Koala used crime data, weather reports, internal data and TripAdvisor to measure:

• Kid-friendly attractions
• Nature and parks
• Child-friendly restaurants
• Crime rate
• Average accommodation price per night
• Average annual temperature
• Annual rainfall

Hilton Head ranked near the top of the list the percentage of child-friendly restaurants (74%) and attractions (28.7%).

In 2020, Hilton Head only saw a 6.9% decrease in occupancy for the year, compared to a 40% decrease in New York City. It’s still estimated that the total economic impact loss in Beaufort County from March 8 to July 11, 2020 was $310 million.

But this summer, during a national workforce shortage, Hilton Head’s restaurants, cleaning services and resorts are notably understaffed for the island’s busy season. The issue is compounded by the island’s lack of affordable housing.

Lisa Stackhouse, the director of marketing at The Holiday Inn Beach House Resort in the Coligny Beach area, told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette last month that the resort has 70 staff rather than its usual 120 employees for the summer.

“We can’t keep up with the demand. We are busier than ever,” she said.

Where did other destinations rank?

Here’s the full list:

1. Waikiki, Hawaii
2. Wailea, Hawaii
3. Sanibel, Florida
4. Sedona, Arizona
5. Lake Tahoe, California
6. Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
7. Durango, Colorado
8. Williamsburg, Virginia
9. Estes Park, Colorado
10. Nantucket, Massachusetts

11. Lahaina, Hawaii

12. Treasure Island, Florida
13. Aspen, Colorado
14. St. Augustine, Florida
15. Newport, Rhode Island
16. Steamboat Springs, Colorado
17. Scottsdale, Arizona
18. Park City, Utah
19. Palm Springs, California
20. Honolulu, Hawaii
21. Kihei, Hawaii
22. Orlando, Florida
23. Garden Grove, California
24. Las Vegas, Nevada
25. Palm Desert, California
26. Phoenix, Arizona
27. San Antonio, Texas
28. Lihue, Hawaii
29. Sonoma, California
30. Monterey, California
31. Austin, Texas
32. San Diego, California
33. Washington, D.C., District of Columbia
34. Nashville, Tennessee
35. New Orleans, Louisiana
36. Santa Fe, New Mexico
37. New York City, New York
38. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
39. La Jolla, California
40. San Francisco, California
41. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
42. Portland, Oregon
43. Vail, Colorado

Rachel Jones

The Island Packet

843-631-6039

Rachel Jones covers education for the Island Packet and the Beaufort Gazette. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has worked for the Daily Tar Heel and Charlotte Observer. She has won awards from the South Carolina Press Association, Associated College Press and North Carolina College Media Association for feature writing and education reporting.