Q2 2020-2021
Town of Bluffton Industry Metrics & Update
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Q2 2020-2021 PERFORMANCE METRICS & UPDATE As the Town of Bluffton’s official Designated Marketing Organization (DMO) we are the leader in promoting tourism to the destination. By strategizing on top travel trends, research, and understanding today’s traveler and adapting to the changing landscape of the industry, we are able to execute on the comprehensive marketing plan, furthering partner exposure and visitation to the destination. The quarterly report focuses on the metrics outlined within the contract, but we also wanted to share the additional efforts and initiatives worked on during Q2 2020-2021.
Town Council Presentation • Ariana Pernice, Vice President of the Visitor & Convention Bureau, presented to Town Council on October 13, 2020 about marketing efforts and performance for Q1 (July - September).
Bluffton Video Series • The Bluffton video series initiative will showcase the Bluffton locals’ perspectives on the destination from a tourism lens. The videos are in the final editing stages and will be promoted beginning in March. The following interviews were conducted: • Former Mayor Emmett McCracken • Brandon Carter, FARM Executive Chef and Partner • Vince and Danielle Harrison, Old Town Bluffton Inn Owners • Councilman Larry Toomer and Tina Toomer, Bluffton Oyster Company Owners • Kim Viljac, Farmers Market of Bluffton Executive Director • Trey Snow, Bluffton Bike Taxi Owner • Chris Shoemaker, May River Excursions Owner
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Q2 2020-2021 PERFORMANCE METRICS & UPDATE Vacation Planner • Councilwoman, Bridgette Frazier was interviewed and photographed to be included in editorial content of the 2021 Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and Daufuskie Island official Vacation Planner. She was highlighted for her food truck and catering businesses within the opening section of dining. There were 75,000 hard copies printed and a digital version created for distribution. The Bluffton section of the book was also refreshed with copy and imagery.
VisitBluffton.org Website • Started initial planning and development of moving the VisitBluffton.org microsite to be a standalone website. This is scheduled to be completed by the end of March.
Research • Ongoing conversations with College of Charleston and University of South Carolina Beaufort to understand and move towards capturing and reporting metrics within the contract.
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Q2 2020-2021 PERFORMANCE METRICS & UPDATE Southern Living • Designed and submitted creative for a full-page advertisement in the January/February issue of Southern Living. Distribution was in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and the Midwest.
Let the May River
S O OT H E YO U R S O U L
917,000 Distributed
Explore the Heart of the Lowcountry #LoveBlufftonSC | VisitBluffton.org
Heyward House • Held a Zoom meeting with Kelly Graham and Katie Epps from Heyward House to open an ongoing dialogue for sharing of historical knowledge, assets and information on identifying target audiences.
Ribbon Cuttings • Promoted and supported Lot 9 Brewing Company and Coastal Carolina CBD & Wellness ribbon cuttings.
4 | Bluffton Quarterly Update
Q2 2020-2021 PERFORMANCE METRICS As the official Designated Marketing Organization (DMO) for the Town of Bluffton and based on our official contract, below are the quarterly metrics for the timeframe of October 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020. These quarterly metrics are defined in the contract under section 2, item 2.1, letters (a) through (l).
RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
$145.32
$120.50
$117.70
Percent Change YTD
Percent Change YTD
Percent Change YTD
-0.9%
-6.5%
32.5%
OCC: Occupancy Rates OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
61.5%
50.4%
46.2%
Percent Change YTD
Percent Change YTD
Percent Change YTD
-16.9%
-20.2%
-9.5%
ADR: Average Daily Rate OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
$236.22
$239.27
$254.86
Percent Change YTD
Percent Change YTD
Percent Change YTD
19.3%
17.1%
46.4%
RevPAR, OCC and ADR Source: Smith Travel Monthly Trends Report
Referrals Made to Area Businesses/Click Throughs Made to Area Businesses
6,110 19.3%
Percent Change YOY
Source: VERB Interactive
Website Hits
24,315 -0.93%
Percent Change YOY
Source: VERB Interactive
Mail Fulfillment
3,143 Vacation Planners and Golf Planners Distributed
Source: Kennickell Fulfillment / HHIB Chamber of Commerce
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Q2 2020-2021 PERFORMANCE METRICS Events For the Q2 2020 timeframe, our organization’s events included weekly Tele-Town Halls, Coffee Chats, Lowcountry Speakers Series, Lunch with Lawmakers, Public Policy, Fall Golf Classic and Holiday Celebration/Silent Auction.
Participation in Events by Chamber Members
Events Held
28
19,450 Public Relations Efforts
IMPRESSIONS
AD VALUE
1,760,900,829 $2,418,967.59
STORIES AND MENTIONS
590
OCTOBER Departures: 8 Luxury US Hotels with Over-the-Top Thanksgiving Offerings to Book Right Now Forbes: 21 Delicious Reasons to Travel Right Now Fodor’s: Room Service Is Different Now. Here’s How 14 Hotels Are Doing It Right NOVEMBER Forbes Travel Guide: Celebrate The Holidays With These Hotel Suite Experiences Forbes: Bucket List Travel: The Top 21 Destinations For Q2021 Red Tricycle: Holiday Road: Drivable Destinations from Atlanta DECEMBER The Manual: 23 Best Holiday Cocktail Recipes to Try This Christmas Source: Weber Shandwick
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Q2 2020-2021 PERFORMANCE METRICS Quarterly Social Report Performance • Paid: Black Friday / Cyber Monday, the election, and holiday sales heavily impacted paid initiatives this quarter across the board in the U.S. We achieved 12K+ sessions and 3.75M+ engagements, as well as grew the Facebook page by almost 17% despite these challenges. • Facebook: Paid efforts supported audience engagement, growth, and interaction this quarter on Facebook. Declines can be attributed to challenging November paid landscape. • Twitter: The top performing tweet of this quarter was an adorable photo of a smiling golden pup, with an engagement rate of 1.45%. Our engagement rate on the platform remains stable at 0.18% (with a 0.04% industry avg.). • Instagram: Beautiful scenery and quaint hideaways acquired the most engagement from our audience this quarter, with our top post having an engagement rate of 25.66%. We saw an impressive jump in profile clicks this quarter, with clicks growing 463%.
FACEBOOK PAGE LIKES
12,135
17.1%
INSTAGRAM FOLLOWED BY
3,043 28.6
TWITTER FOLLOWERS
622
-0.5%
FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENTS
419,241
-11.6%
INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENTS
39,203
7.3%
TWITTER ENGAGEMENTS
421
-7.1
Source: VERB Interactive
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QUARTERLY BUDGET HILTON HEAD ISLAND - BLUFFTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INC. DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATION FOR THE TOWN OF BLUFFTON QUARTERLY REPORT SCHEDULE OF FUNCTIONAL REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES, OCTOBER 1, 2020 - DECEMBER 31, 2020 BLUFFTON ACCOMMODATIONS TAX
Revenues - Town of Bluffton DMO Town of Bluffton Special Grant - Special Total Revenue
$
Expenses: Bluffton Fulfillment (estimated) Vacation Planner (estimated) Digital Promotions - Social Media Digital Promotions - Website/SEO Digital Promotions - Google/Facebook Photography Leisure Marketing - Other Bluffton Visitor Research Total direct marketing expenses
Administrative (Based on 37% of revenues) Salaries Payroll taxes Employee benefits - 401K Employee benefits - Insurance Operations - Other Operations - Building Expense Total administrative
107,775 107,775 2,500 6,000 7,600 3,750 4,083 3,174 805 250 28,162
27,356 1,950 1,368 2,797 4,532 1,873 39,877
Total expenses
68,038
Excess of revenues over expenses
39,736
Important Note on Estimated Costs: The Vacation Planner/Fulfillment are shared expenses with the Town of Hilton Head Island, Beaufort County, and the State of South Carolina and are not reconciled until the end of the fiscal year.
8 | Bluffton Quarterly Update
MEET YOUR TEAM Executive
Communications
Visitor & Convention Bureau
President & CEO bmiles@hiltonheadisland.org
Vice President, Communications cclark@hiltonheadisland.org
Vice President, Visitor & Convention Bureau apernice@hiltonheadisland.org
Bill Miles
Connie Killmar
Assistant to the President ckillmar@hiltonheadisland.org
Charlie Clark
Hallie Martin
Communications Manager hmartin@hiltonheadisland.org
Lilly Strickland
Ariana Pernice
Kayla Boyter
Senior Marketing Manager kboyter@hiltonheadisland.org
Visual Content Manager lstrickland@hiltonheadisland.org
Kim Nelson
Finance & Administration
Zack Shedd
Ray Deal
Controller rdeal@hiltonheadisland.org
Kelly McCallister
Assistant Controller kmccallister@hiltonheadisland.org
Information Specialist Kathy Winings
Sales Manager knelson@hiltonheadisland.org
Multimedia Sales Manager zshedd@hiltonheadisland.org
Alyssa Whitehouse
Creative Manager awhitehouse@hiltonheadisland.org
Cristian Slaton
Research & Digital Marketing Coordinator cslaton@hiltonheadisland.org
Information Specialist kwinings@hiltonheadisland.org
Laura Higgins
Information Specialist lhiggins@hiltonheadisland.org
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