Wine & Food Festival and Rhythm & Brews presenters cite millions in local impact, ask for ATAX marketing support

Jeff Gerber, executive director of the Hilton Head Wine and Food Festival, told the committee the festival is a long-running driver event that produces hotel room nights, supports scholarships and creates a marketing funnel for other island businesses.

Gerber estimated the Wine & Food Festival generates roughly $4 million in economic impact and described stable hotel-night yield and scholarship growth; he said the nonprofit has increased scholarships annually (noting a jump this year to $27,000 in combined scholarships). He also outlined Rhythm & Brews, the newer music-and-craft-beer event, reporting growth from about 650 attendees in year one to roughly 930 in the most recent run. Rhythm & Brews organizers emphasized targeted programmatic ads, influencer partnerships (a paid collaboration with an influencer cited as Kaylee Rose) and measured ticketing/survey returns to show audience composition and drive-market reach.

Committee members asked how much of the events' benefit is captured within Hilton Head versus the broader corridor; Gerber said hotel and room-night tracking and partner hotel feedback (for example, the Sonesta reporting 1,100 room nights from a hosted group) help quantify the local lodging impact. For Rhythm & Brews specifically, Gerber said the event remains an "enhancer" that increasingly attracts tourists and that additional paid influencer content was a one-time expense the organization requested ATAX to cover on a trial basis.

No formal funding decision was made during the presentation; the committee requested follow-up material documenting hotel-night attribution and the planned use of any requested ATAX marketing funds.