Town of Bluffton Industry Metrics & Update Q4

TOWN OF BLUFFTON INDUSTRY METRICS & UPDATE

Q4 Performance Metrics & Update

Q4 Performance Metrics & Update As the Town of Bluffton’s official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) we are the leader in promoting tourism to the destination. By understanding today’s traveler and adapting to the changing landscape of the industry, we are able to execute on the comprehensive Town of Bluffton Marketing Plan.

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 Q4 2020-2021.

Town Council Presentation Ariana Pernice, Vice President of the Visitor & Convention Bureau, presented the 2021-2022 Bluffton Marketing Plan to ATAC on May 18, 2021 and the Q3 quarterly update and 2021-2022 Bluffton Marketing Plan to Town Council on June 8, 2021.

Bluffton Video Series - Explore Bluffton • Created, edited and finalized the compilation video that included clips from all seven individual videos.

• Created Bluffton specific YouTube Channel for the Bluffton Video Series.

• Added Bluffton Video Series carousel to homepage of website.

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VisitBluffton.org

#LoveBlufftonSC

Official Bluffton Vacation Planner The 2021 Official Bluffton Vacation Planner was introduced as a stand alone publication.

The Planner is the first touchpoint for visitors looking to explore the destination and learn more about what there is to see and do in the area. A dedicated landing page was created on the website to “Request a Guide” through our in-house fulfillment. We are working with Kennickell, our larger third-party partner to run fulfillment through them as the publication continues to grow.

A reorder was placed in June for 5,000 based on high demand from online requests, as well as from the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) and Welcome Centers.

Fulfillment Official Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Daufuskie Island Vacation Planner:

19,792

Official Bluffton Vacation Planner: 2,300

Research • Finalized and implemented the Visitor Profile Study survey efforts that will provide

research and insights for the Bluffton Economic Impact Report.

• Added a CTA to the VisitBluffton.org website to collect email information in order to use

as a database to survey visitors.

ExploreBlufftonSC

ExploreBlufftonSC

VisitBlufftonSC

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Bluffton Website As a standalone website, VisitBluffton.org was launched March 31, 2021. The website has been finely tuned with imagery and a new video series as well as the addition of advertisers located in Bluffton.

Referrals/Click Throughs Made to Area Business

13,978

Website Visits

411% YOY**

Website Hits

17,416 89% YOY**

Source: Google Analytics / VERB interactive (YOY Comparison)

**Compared to HHI site for YOY as standalone Bluffton site launched in late March 2021.

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VisitBluffton.org

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Media Partnerships

• South’s Best Issue (April 1) • Worked with Garden & Gun to solidify a media partnership which • Full-page brand ad will include an integration with an • Distribution: Georgia, influencer. Because of timing, we have South Carolina, North made the commitment but will look to Carolina and the Midwest align this into the fall timeframe with Circulation 917,000 the Historic Bluffton Arts & Seafood Festival. We will partner with Old Town Bluffton Inn for accommodations.

Ribbon Cuttings The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce promoted and supported five ribbon cuttings for this quarter with local business chamber members: Savannah Vascular, Devine & Beard, Carolina Me Crazy, Sunset Slush HHI, and Moul Realtors.

Savannah Vascular

Carolina Me Crazy

Devine & Beard

Sunset Slush HHI

ExploreBlufftonSC

Moul Reality

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VisitBlufftonSC

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Destination Metrics As the Official DMO for the Town of Bluffton and based on our official contract, below are the quarterly metrics for the timeframe April 1, 2021 - June 30, 2021.

April

OCC: Occupancy Rates

74.5% 216.9% YOY

April

ADR: Average Daily Rate

$338 361.0% YOY

April

RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room

$252 1,360.6% YOY

May

78.6%

83.7%

90.0% YOY

50.0% YOY

May

$344 339.2% YOY

May

$270 734.7% YOY

Source: Smith Travel Research (STR) / Monthly Trend Report *YOY percentages are large due to Covid-19

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VisitBluffton.org

June

#LoveBlufftonSC

June

$365 76.8% YOY

June

$305 165.3% YOY

Events For the Q4 2021 timeframe, our organization’s events included Tele-Town Halls, Coffee Chats, Ribbon Cuttings, Public Policy Meetings, and Conversation + Cocktails.

Participation in Events

by Chamber Members

Events Held

30

2,889

Hosted the Southwest Business Event with key stakeholders of the community and the Vice President of Southwest Business, Dave Harvey, at Montage Palmetto Bluff on 5/17.

Public Relations Efforts Impressions

487,914,643

Ad Value

$229,783.43

Placements:

137

Source: Critical Mention / BurrellesLuce / Weber Shandwick

ExploreBlufftonSC

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VisitBlufftonSC

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Bluffton Story Highlights April - June April People Online (UVPM: 8,630,000): HGTV’s 2021 Smart Home Is Here! Find Out Where It’s Located and Every Amazing Feature’ The Everygirl (UVPM: 408,420): 17 Airbnbs That Will Make You Feel Like the Star of a Nancy Meyers Movie AFAR (UVPM: 643,317): 9 Tips for Finding Pet-Friendly Airbnb and Vacation Rentals

May Golf Magazine (UVPM: 681,569): Top 100 courses trip planner: 5 incredible East Coast golf road trips Golf Magazine (UVPM: 681,569): Best public golf courses in the Southeast: GOLF’s 2021-22 ranking Forbes (UVPM: 33,734,080): South Carolina Distilleries Plan Growth With Passage Of New Liquor Laws

June Thrillist (UVPM: 3,607,069): Kick Off Your Summer with These 10 Travel Ideas Pursuitist (UVPM: 24,061): Montage Palmetto Bluff Hosts Wellness Weekend July 23rd-25th

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VisitBluffton.org

#LoveBlufftonSC

Quarterly Social Report Performance Paid: Paid efforts drove almost 16K website sessions this quarter (+30% from 12K last quarter). This can be attributed to the increase in spend, boosting metrics such as impressions which facilitate session.

Facebook Insights: Q4 saw growth in Total Fans (+149% YOY), Organic Impressions (+350.5% YOY), Likes (+539% YOY), Comments (+275.5% YOY), and other engagementrelated KPIs. Our Engagement Rate was 2.17% (vs. 0.09% industry average).

Twitter Insights: Our Twitter followers remained stagnant this quarter, but Impressions went up 68% YOY. Our Engagement Rate sits at 0.12% (vs. 0.045% industry average).

Instagram Insights: Our Followers grew by 777 users this quarter, with women ages 35 – 44 as our top audience.

Facebook Page Likes

19,185

Facebook Engagements 149% YOY

Instagram Followed By

4,779

ExploreBlufftonSC

696% YOY

Instagram Engagements 168% YOY

Twitter Followers

614

405,677

35,649

100% YOY

Twitter Engagements -1.6% YOY

ExploreBlufftonSC

185

VisitBlufftonSC

-64% YOY

ExploreBlufftonSC

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Juneteenth Promotion • Bluffton’s social accounts supported Juneteenth events with promotion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

• Bluffton shared 11 organic posts promoting local Juneteenth events at Burnt Church Distillery.

• Juneteenth posts earned 5,744 Impressions and 82 Engagements.

• The most popular post regarding Juneteenth, in terms of Engagement, was this post.

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VisitBluffton.org

#LoveBlufftonSC

Quarterly Budget - Destination Marketing Organization Revenues - Town of Bluffton DMO

$ 243,838

Town of Bluffton Special Grant - Special Total Revenue

$ 243,838

Expenses: Bluffton Fulfillment (estimated) Vacation Planner (estimated) Vacation Planner (Bluffton only Guide) Digital Promotions - Social Media Digital Promotions - Website/SEO Digital Promotions - Google/Facebook Leisure Marketing (Garden & Gun) Photography VisitBluffton.org Leisure Marketing - Other Bluffton Visitor Research

$ 5,000 $ 12,000 $ 46,597 $ 15,100 $ 7,500 $ 11,201 $ 25,000 $ 4 ,074 $ 20,000 $ 6 ,896 $ 250 $ 153,618

Total direct marketing expenses

Administrative (Based on 37% of revenues)

$ 61,892 $ 4,412 $ 3,095 $ 6,329 $ 10,254 $ 4,238

Salaries Payroll taxes Employee benefits - 401K Employee benefits - Insurance Operations - Other Operations - Building Expense Total administrative

$ 90,220

Total expenses

$ 243,838 $0

Excess of revenues over expenses

Notes: As of August 12, 2021, these financials are unaudited and are subject to change. Financials will not be considered final until audit completion and Board approval in September 2021.

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.

ExploreBlufftonSC

ExploreBlufftonSC

VisitBlufftonSC

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Meet Your Team Executive

Visitor & Convention Bureau

BILL M ILES President & CEO bmiles@hiltonheadisland.org

ARIANA PERNICE Vice President, Visitor & Convention Bureau apernice@hiltonheadisland.org

CONNIE KILLMAR Assistant to the President ckillmar@hiltonheadisland.org

KAYLA BOYTER Senior Marketing Manager kboyter@hiltonheadisland.org

Communications

KI M NELSON Sales Manager knelson@hiltonheadisland.org

CHARLIE CLARK Vice President, Communications cclark@hiltonheadisland.org

ZACK SHEDD Multimedia Sales Manager zshedd@hiltonheadisland.org

HALLIE MARTIN Communications Manager hmartin@hiltonheadisland.org

CRISTIAN SLATON Research & Digital Marketing Coordinator cslaton@hiltonheadisland.org

LILLY STRICKLAND Visual Content Manager lstrickland@hiltonheadisland.org

Information Specialist

Finance & Administration RAY DEAL Controller rdeal@hiltonheadisland.org KELLY MCCALLISTER Assistant Controller kmccallister@hiltonheadisland.org

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VisitBluffton.org

KATHY WININGS Information Specialist kwinings@hiltonheadisland.org LAURA HIGGINS Information Specialist lhiggins@hiltonheadisland.org LINDA LANIER Information Specialist llanier@hiltonheadisland.org

#LoveBlufftonSC