New Beaufort group to lobby for hospitality issues
More heads in hotel beds and higher restaurant traffic year-round are among the goals of a newly formed group of northern Beaufort County hospitality businesses.
The Beaufort chapter of the SC Restaurant and Lodging Association was formed in October, becoming one of nine statewide chapters. The group aims to create a unified voice to address issues such as consistent year-round tourism, accommodations tax funding and parking.
The organization includes 22 businesses north of the Broad River in Beaufort and Port Royal and on the sea islands. The association already has a Hilton Head-Bluffton chapter, making Beaufort the only county in the state with multiple chapters.
Gary Lang, chef of Breakwater Restaurant and president of the new chapter, said he learned of the association's benefits after joining the Greenville chapter when he opened a Breakwater there.
"We've all known each other for years, but we've been individual businesses," Lang said of the new Beaufort chapter. "... We just want to advocate some good things going on."
The top priority for the new group, which is still shaping a strategy, is higher hotel occupancy, which then would create a trickle-down effect, Lang said. Robb Wells, the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce's vice president for tourism, has met with the group to outline his efforts towards the same goals.
Wells and the chamber have done a good job boosting tourism in recent years, Lang said.
"We would like to see him continue down that path and have more funding, if it's available," Lang said.
Douglas O'Flaherty, operations director for the state Restaurant and Lodging Association, said he has talked to Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling and city council members about the issue of parking in downtown Beaufort. He said the organization doesn't have a position on parking except that it be safe and convenient for employees and to advocate for more spaces.
On Tuesday, city council will vote a second time on whether to allow the city to negotiate to buy 500 Carteret St. to use for more parking and redevelopment. The property, listed for $1.6 million, could create as many as 90 new parking spaces downtown.
A parking panel recommended this summer that about half of those spaces be reserved for employees.
"It's common sense that a consumer -- if they want to shop or dine downtown -- if they can't find a parking space, they may go somewhere else," said O'Flaherty, who worked as a manager at Sea Pines Resort and in sales for Columbia hotels before joining the state association.
O'Flaherty has attended the Beaufort chapter's early meetings. The group plans to meet the second Tuesday of each month.
In addition to addressing local issues like parking, the state association keeps local partners up to speed on lobbying efforts, such as convincing the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to update food safety standards.
The association also runs SC Restaurant Week, an 11-day event which begins Jan. 7. Beaufort held its first restaurant week this year in collaboration with the Beaufort Regional Chamber.
The Restaurant and Lodging Association will now handle planning, which O'Flaherty said begins a year in advance. Partnering with the SCLRA for Restaurant Week will mean much more exposure, Lang said.
He noted a statewide campaign and promotion on a website with more than a million views during the week.
"Hopefully it will encourage people to travel," Lang said.
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.
Related content:
- Update: Beaufort close to buying downtown parking lot, office space, Dc. 15, 2015
- Beaufort Restaurant Week starts today, Sept. 10, 2015
- Beaufort Restaurant Week organizers reveal this year's restaurants, menus, Jan. 9, 2015
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 3:46 PM with the headline "New Beaufort group to lobby for hospitality issues."