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By Brian Sherman for The Island Eye News
Attracting more people to spend the night on Palm Island can be a beneficial goal for short-term rental owners, but it’s more important to attract holidaymakers who don’t mind spending a lot of money while visiting the city. island. This is at least part of the message that Helen Hill, general manager of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, presented to the working group on recommendations on where IOP should send more than $ 750,000. annual, and increasing, short-term state. rental income. Hill was invited to give a presentation at the group’s second official meeting on March 17. “More bodies are not working well on the island. Spending more money serves the island well, “Hill said. The city has been sending what is known as its 30% fund to CVB, its destination marketing organization, for more than two decades: $ 733,416 during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. The working group, appointed by the IOP City Council at its meeting on February 22, was given six months to make recommendations on whether the city Hill should point out that the CVB spends 87% of its $ 22 million budget on marketing and sales. He said 36% of the money comes from state housing taxes, 38% from private members and 26% from the state. “We are not an advertising agency. We are the whole package, “he told members of the task force. Hill said print and digital advertising, air services, workforce development, unpaid media – Press “- Working with the Wild Dunes Group’s sales team and promoting the IOP as a wedding destination are all ways the CVB attracts visitors to Charleston. The area and Palm Island.” very good job selling our beach communities, “he said, adding that” everyone is all about content. ” At the request of the city’s ATAX Advisory Committee, it was not yet operational because the CVB is “waiting for content.” Once operational, the site will be accessible directly or through the Explore Charleston website. IOP business licenses are eligible to appear on the site without no cost. Hill also cited the CVB’s close relationship with the newly formed Isle of Palms Chamber of Commerce. After his presentation, Hill answered questions from members of the working group. For example, island resident Sarah Vega asked if the CVB could help the city advertise specifically for IOPs, while Curtis Kay, the owner of a rental property on the island, wanted to know if the city he could spend some of the money he now sends to the CVB. Councilor Rusty Streetman, chair of the working group, asked if part of the 65% fund in the city could be spent on marketing. Hill said yes to all three questions. Sam Parris of Wild Dunes Resort raised an issue that could affect the recommendations made by the working group to the Council. The Tourism Expenditure Review Committee, which was set up by the state legislature to oversee any questionable tourism-related spending generated by the state’s short-term rental tax, has asked the Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, an opinion on whether a city, town, or county can create its own destination marketing organization when there is already one like CVB. The January 21 letter to the Attorney General seems to indicate that the TERC does not believe that a municipality can form its own DMO: “In other words, a municipality or county cannot simply decide to create such an organization without The creation of this organization is necessary because of the lack of another option to choose from. ”According to Palms Island Administrator Desiree Fragoso, the Attorney General has not yet Folly Beach established its own DMO in 2004. Streetman said representatives of the organization would be invited to speak at the working group meeting on March 31. In addition to Streetman, Parris, Vega and Kay, members of the working group include Melissa Simbana, general manager of The Palms Hotel and The Seaside Inn, Ray Burns, chairman of the ATAX Advisory Committee, Bret Jones, one of the owners of The Dinghy, Papis, Luke & Ollies and Smugglers; Randy Walker of Dunes Properties; and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Katrina Limbach. Counties and municipalities can put the first $ 25,000 plus 5% of the state tax on short-term rent into their general fund.
The rest goes to two pots: 65% to be spent on tourism-related activities and 30% to a non-profit organization for advertising and other methods of promoting tourism.