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Chamber DMO outlines 2026–27 marketing plan and AI-era metrics; committee forwards budget to finance
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Summary
The Hilton Head Island–Bluffton Chamber (DMO) presented its first-year plan under a new contract, proposing accommodation-tax funding allocations and new AI-focused metrics; the committee voted to forward the fiscal-year 2026–27 DMO budget to the finance and administrative committee after public criticism about procurement transparency.
Ariana Pernice and Chase O'Dell of the Hilton Head Island–Bluffton Chamber presented the DMO’s proposed 2026–27 marketing plan and recommended allocations of accommodations-tax-funded 30% dollars. After questions from committee members and public comment criticizing the DMO procurement, the advisory committee voted to forward the DMO budget to the town finance and administrative committee for final consideration.
Pernice introduced the DMO’s first year under the new contract and said the presentation followed the state tourism-expenditure template (TURK form) for reporting 30% funds. The DMO said it planned to allocate roughly $3.7 million in accommodations-tax-generated funding for its operations and program line items next fiscal year, and it outlined line items including media buys, marketing support and an administrative fee; the packet cited a proposed admin fee near $1,053,000 and a $240,000 accommodations-tax–funded media allocation for the coming year.
Research lead Chase O'Dell flagged a major industry shift: Google and generative-AI answers that reduce traditional organic website visits. "Google organic search traffic has dropped almost 30% this year," he said, and the DMO described new KPIs such as AI-citation share, API-call volume and "agent conversion" metrics intended to measure visibility in an AI-driven search environment. The DMO also described event research partnerships with USCB and College of Charleston and said it uses Placer AI for geolocation and demographic insights to inform targeting and group-sales outreach.
Committee members asked how the DMO will share Placer AI and event-survey data with ATAX applicants; Pernice and town staff (Angie Stone) said they would formalize a process to make research and reporting available to applicants and to include the data in applicant workshops. Members also urged more resident-facing communications to explain how tourism funding is collected and used; the DMO pointed to thinkhiltonheadisland.org as a public repository for metrics and reports.
Public commenter Richard Bussey criticized the town’s DMO procurement and selection process as insufficiently transparent and described the presentation as “window dressing,” saying he was concerned the Chamber had been chosen behind closed doors. The DMO and town staff reiterated contract transparency clauses and noted the procurement timeline had been executed; the committee did not resolve the procurement criticism at the meeting.
Speaker 2 moved to forward the fiscal-year 2026–27 DMO budget to the finance and administrative committee for approval; the motion was seconded and approved by the committee, which signaled its recommendation by show of hands. The finance committee and town council will review the DMO contract compliance, the proposed 30% allocations and any outstanding questions about procurement and data-sharing.
