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DMO touts national coverage and Google pilot as council hears beach-renourishment and parks updates
Summary
Hilton Head Island’s destination-marketing team reported strong media coverage and a new Google DMO pilot while the town manager updated council on beach renourishment at Fish Hall and planned parks work. Council asked follow-ups on measuring AI-driven impressions and equitable benefit to island businesses.
Charlie Clark, the town’s destination-marketing lead, told the Sept. 16 council meeting that media relations produced more than 4,000 stories and mentions year-to-date and that the office is participating in a Google DMO pilot to improve how AI and search engines surface local events and tourism information.
"We are everywhere," Clark said. She highlighted recent national coverage — including multiple Today Show segments — and described a Gullah-focused press trip that generated attention from national outlets. Clark said the office is strengthening schema markup and other back-end website work so generative-search engines will cite the town as an authoritative source.
Arianna Pernice and research manager Chase Odell presented metrics for April–June and summer snapshots. Odell said homes-and-villas occupancy was down slightly compared with 2024 while rates rose, leaving overall revenue roughly flat; some full-service oceanfront hotels posted higher occupancy and revenue than in 2024. The DMO team said its top domestic markets are Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and New York and noted international lift from Canada, the U.K. and Germany.
During Q&A, Council members pressed the DMO to show how search-engine "impressions" can be tracked and how ATAX/DMO dollars are distributed to reach all island businesses. "Is there a way to capture the front-end AI impressions and the demographics behind that?" Councilmember Tanya (first reference in meeting record) asked; Clark said Google has begun providing some impression-level tracking and that the town will pursue additional metrics.
Town Manager Mark Orlando gave operational updates tied to the presentation: beach-renourishment work by Marinette Construction began pumping sand at Fish Hall on Sept. 11 and phase schedules project Pine Island and Port Royal renourishment later in the fall and winter; Caligny Pocket Park is under contract and construction is slated to finish by April; Taylor Family Park and Patterson Park are moving through design and permitting with construction slated to begin in early 2026.
Orlando also reported that partnerships with South Carolina DNR, the Hilton Head Reef Foundation and Beaufort County helped remove 10 sunken or abandoned vessels recently and that one remaining vessel will be recovered when conditions permit. He thanked council for FY26 budget investments that supported the removals.
Council thanked the DMO team for the report and asked staff for follow-up materials that show the economic impact of outreach and how marketing benefits are shared across the island’s businesses.
