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Chamber presents FY26 DMO marketing plan; committee recommends council approval
Summary
The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber presented a yearlong marketing plan and proposed FY26 budget for the destination marketing organization; committee members voted to recommend the plan to full council after Q&A on audience targeting and seasonality metrics.
Ariana Pernice, vice president of the Visitor and Convention Bureau at the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, presented the destination marketing organization's fiscal-year 2026 marketing plan and related industry metrics at the committee meeting on April 20.
Pernice said the DMO's strategy centers on five pillars'ecotourism, history, arts and culture, recreation and wellness'ewith an emphasis on attracting an affluent, multi-night visitor the bureau describes as the 'qualified' traveler. She said the bureau uses a combination of survey-based visitor profiles and Placer.ai geofencing data, plus Google Analytics, to refine targeting and measure results.
Committee members questioned the gender composition of the self-reported survey sample and how that affects targeting. Pernice and members of the chamber's marketing team said survey response rates can vary year to year and that the DMO will increasingly blend Placer.ai and web analytics with survey responses to refine audience targeting. Chamber staff also described a "vacation planner" fulfillment program, public relations placements, and a coffee-table destination guide that the bureau monitors quarterly for print runs and distribution.
Members asked how the DMO measures festival and event performance in the shoulder seasons; Pernice said the chamber works with partners and the University of South Carolina Beaufort to conduct event intercept surveys and provide engagement data to festival organizers. Communications Director Heather Wolwine told the committee the town and chamber are collaborating on organic social media and public relations efforts under the town's community cornerstone plan.
After questions from committee members, a motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of the FY26 DMO marketing plan and budget to the full town council; the committee voted to send the recommendation forward.
