Bluffton FY24-Q2 Quarterly Update

TOWN OF BLUFFTON INDUSTRY METRICS

FY24 - Q2 Update

FY24 - Q2 Performance Metrics & Update October 1 - December 31, 2023

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 travelers and adapting to the changing landscape of the industry, we are able to execute 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 FY24-Q2.

Town of Bluffton Marketing Plans, Reports, and Presentations • Submitted monthly reports to the town staff.

• 11/15/23, Submitted the Town of Bluffton FY24-Q1 report to town staff.

• 12/12/23, Presented FY24-Q1 quarterly report to town staff.

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Dedicated Official Bluffton Vacation Planner October 1 - December 31, 2023

The Official Vacation Planner is the first touchpoint visitors receive when planning their visit to the Heart of the Lowcountry™. In Q2 we finalized the Bluffton Vacation Planner and sent the final version to the printer.

We receive requests for this piece from multiple platforms; online, media, and phone inquiries. In addition, we distribute the planner to state and local welcome centers, hotels, airports, AAA offices, tradeshows and included in all public relations outreach.

FY24 - Q2 Mail Fulfillment and Distribution Official Bluffton Vacation Planner: 3,039 Official Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Daufuskie Island Vacation Planner: 7,645

Research We continue our efforts with the College of Charleston in collecting visitor profile surveys and understanding the demographics who are traveling to the Town of Bluffton. We look to finalize our Bluffton visitor profile study and economic impact report in the upcoming quarter.

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FY24 - Q2 Bluffton Website Performance October 1 - December 31, 2023

Website Sessions

Website Visits

49,047

Referrals/Click Throughs Made to Area Business

11,516

+4.4%

+12.2%

Paid social was the biggest contributor to sessions with 48% of overall sessions. This is important to mention as paid social only drove 24% of overall sessions in Q2 2023. Top regions included Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

The new version of the website launched in Q2

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FY24 - Q2 Destination Social Report October 1 - December 31, 2023 Facebook Page Likes

35,313

Facebook Engagements +16% YOY

X Followers

680

-13% YOY

X Engagements +4% YOY

Instagram Followers

10,190

52,456 90

-7%YOY

Instagram Engagements +24% YOY

TikTok Followers

13,476

+7% YOY

TikTok Engagements

2,153

149

This is the second consistent quarter that we experienced YoY increases in followers for our Instagram, Facebook, and X followers. Notably, we achieved our milestone of reaching 10,000 Instagram followers before the end of the year. The follower growth can be attributed to our audience’s clear preference for content that showcases the picturesque landscapes of the Lowcountry.

While engagements on Facebook and X saw a slight decrease, reflective of the dynamic shifts in algorithms across platforms, it’s worth noting that we continue to achieve good numbers across the board.

Regarding TikTok, it continues to thrive in its growth phase since the launch. We are currently presenting performance metrics as totals until we obtain YoY data.

Facebook

X

TikTok

Instagram

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FY24 - Q2 Paid Media Partnerships October 1 - December 31, 2023

Garden & Gun Partnership Garden & Gun is a lifestyle brand that covers the best of the South, including sporting, culture, food, music, art and more.

In partnership with the inaugural Roots & Rivers Festival, we hosted a Garden & Gun contributor, Jai Jones, to experience the festival and Bluffton. Locations visited included Burnt Church Distillery, Old Town Bluffton Inn, Roots & Rivers Festival, Nectar Farm Kitchen, and Okàn. In addition, the writer conducted interviews with Councilwoman Bridgette Frazier, Billy Watterson, Chef Bernard Bennett, and Gwen Chambers.

Activation: Digital branded content featuring Garden & Gun writer promoted on Garden & Gun website and social channels.

Jai Jones shared content on his channels. The article and social posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram went live in late October.

Campaign Dates: September–November 2023 Results: Audience Reached: 1.89M+ Digital Article Page Views: 16.5K+

readers in Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, Raleigh, NC, New York, NY, Dallas, TX, and Nashville, TN. Social media post #1 performed best with women 55 and older hailing from: Savannah, GA; Atlanta, GA; Greenville, NC; New York, NY; Tampa, FL; Charleston, SC; Orlando, FL and Columbia, SC. Social media post #2 performed best with both men and women 25+ in New York, NY; Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Washington DC; Savannah, GA and Dallas TX.

Social Engagements: 47.5K+ Social Clicks: 14.8K+ Key Insights: Both Facebook posts exceeded the 3% benchmark earning a 6.2% and 8.3% Engagement Rate, respectively.

The OpenTable article exceeded the 10,000 page view benchmark, achieving 16,506 page views. It resonated best with

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FY24 - Q2 Destination Metrics October 1 - December 31, 2023

As the Official DMO for the Town of Bluffton and based on our official contract, below are the quarterly metrics for the time frame October 1 - December 31, 2023.

October

OCC: Occupancy Rates

ADR: Average Daily Rate

RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room

November

72.5%

66.6%

54.5%

+8.7% YOY

+14.1% YOY

+11.4% YOY

October

November

December

$292

$295

$229

-0.6% YOY

-3.9% YOY

-12.4 YOY

October

November

December

$212 +8.0 YOY

$196 +9.6% YOY

Although Bluffton experienced a slight decrease in average daily rate, higher occupancy levels resulted in increases in revenue per available room for the months of October and November.

Source: Smith Travel Research (STR), Monthly Trend Report

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December

VisitBluffton.org

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$125 -2.4% YOY

FY24 - Q2 Events

October 1 - December 31, 2023 For FY24-Q2 time frame, our organization’s events included: • Jr. Leadership • Ribbon Cuttings • Leadership

Participation in Events

by Chamber Members

Events Held

324

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FY24 - Q2 Public Relations

October 1 - December 31, 2023

Below are the Bluffton-specific Public Relations mentions for the quarter.

Mentions

41

Impressions

626,260,774 Source: Critical Mention / BurrellsLuce / Weber Shandwick

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Ad Value

$253,293

FY24 - Q2 Public Relations

Bluffton Story Highlights October 1 - December 31, 2023

October

December

Garden & Gun (UVPM: 99,911) Open Table: Bluffton, South Carolina

Veranda (UVPM: 1,190,785) 29 Romantic Escapes for a Valentine’s Day Getaway

Trips to Discover (UVPM: 403,441) The 15 Most Beautiful Hotels & Resorts in the U.S.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (UVPM: 855,581) Enjoy the good life at these 5 luxe hotels in Southeast

Southern Living (UVPM: 2,530,157) 12 Southern Hotels With The Coziest Fireplaces Bloomberg (UVPM: 13,002,574) My Favorite Hotels in 2023—and Why They Were Worth the Price

November Forbes (UVPM: 24,051,090) These Are The Best 100 Restaurants In America, According To OpenTable World Atlas (UVPM: 1,327,522) 10 Must-Visit Small Towns In South Carolina

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (UVPM: 855,581) Artisan knife forgers bring their craft to Palmetto Bluff’s Artist Initiative

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FY24 - Q2 Ribbon Cuttings

October 1 - December 31, 2023

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce promoted and supported two ceremonies for this quarter with two local business chamber members:

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bluffton

Bluffton Candles

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FY24 - Q2 Budget Destination Marketing Organization Revenues - Town of Bluffton DMO

$

263,772 -

Town of Bluffton Special Grant - Special Total Revenue

$

Expenses:

263,772

Vacation Planner (Regional) (estimated) Fulfillment - Regional Vacation Planner (estimated) Vacation Planner - Bluffton Only Guide Fulfillment - Bluffton Only Guide Digital Promotions - Social Media Digital Promotions - Website/SEO Digital Promotions - Google/Facebook Leisure Marketing (CBS) Leisure Marketing (Garden & Gun) Photography Leisure Marketing (Departures Media) Leisure Marketing - Other

$ 10,000 $ 4,000 $ 37,964 $ 3,962 $ 7,200 $ 13,502 $ 25,499 $ 2,640 $ 662 $ 1500 $ 4,608 $ 174

Total direct marketing expenses

$ 111,712

Administrative (Based on 39% of expected annual revenues) Salaries Payroll taxes Employee benefits - 401K Employee benefits - Insurance Operations - Other Operations - Building Expense

$ 42,092 $ 2,946 $ 2,526 $ 3,219 $ 430 $ 224

Total administrative

$ 34,125

Total expenses

$ 163,148

Excess of revenues over expenses

$ (100,624)

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.

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Meet Your Team Executive

Visitor & Convention Bureau

BILL M ILES, IOM, CCE President & CEO bmiles@hiltonheadisland.org

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

CONNIE KILLMAR Assistant to the President ckillmar@hiltonheadisland.org

KATIE CACCIOLA Director of Marketing kcacciola@hiltonheadisland.org

Communications

ZACK SHEDD Multimedia Sales Manager zshedd@hiltonheadisland.org

CHARLIE CLARK Vice President, Communications cclark@hiltonheadisland.org

CRISTIAN SLATON Research Manager cslaton@hiltonheadisland.org

HALLIE MARTIN Director of Communications hmartin@hiltonheadisland.org

ROBERT OBERNIER Website Administrator robernier@hiltonheadisland.org

SHANNON LONGSHORE Visual Content Coordinator slongshore@hiltonheadisland.org

Information Specialist

JORDAN MAT THIS Visual Content Coordinator jmatthis@hiltonheadisland.org

KATHY WININGS Information Specialist kwinings@hiltonheadisland.org

Finance & Administration

LAURA HIGGINS Information Specialist lhiggins@hiltonheadisland.org

RAY DEAL Controller rdeal@hiltonheadisland.org

LINDA LANIER Information Specialist llanier@hiltonheadisland.org

KELLY MCCALLISTER Assistant Controller kmccallister@hiltonheadisland.org

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