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DMO reports 3.3 million website visits, mixed visitor trends and 17% rise in economic impact
Summary
The chamber reported 3.3 million visits to HiltonHeadIsland.org in 2024, partner referrals at 1.5 million, a 3% year-over-year web increase and a 17% jump in economic impact despite a 4% drop in occupancy.
At the committee meeting Ariana Pernice presented the DMO's 2024 performance data: the destination website received over 3,300,000 visits with approximately 1,500,000 partner referrals, and social-media audience size is about 357,000. Pernice said website visits were up 3% year over year and links to local partners increased about 25%.
Pernice and analytics staff noted occupancy was down about 4% while average daily rate rose roughly 1%, producing a RevPAR decline near 3%. "The economic impact of visitor spending is up 17%," Pernice said, pointing to higher per-visitor spend even as total headcount fell. The DMO attributed increased per-visitor spending to higher restaurant, recreation and retail receipts and stronger ADR among certain segments, including home and villa rentals whose counts fell but whose per-visitor spend rose.
Committee members asked for breakdowns by activity (golf, dining, events) and were told the visitor profile study and Placer/Zartico data provide segment detail; the DMO said it will supply a more granular breakdown to the committee upon request.
