Meeting News - February 16, 2009 - (Page 30)

26 Greenville 85 85 Spartanburg 385 77 26 Columbia 20 95 20 Florence 501 Myrtle Beach Pawleys Island Isle of Palms SOUTH CAROLINA 26 Meetings Demand Spurs Two New CVBs in Beaufort, SC The city of Beaufort, SC, which has never had an official convention and visitors bureau, now has two with which to finally court meetings and conventions, according to local tourism officials. The first, the Beaufort-Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau, was created last year by local developer Dick Stewart, the former chair of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. He hired Elizabeth O’Brien as executive director in November, and they’ve been working together to make Beaufort a competitive meetings destination—for the first time in its nearly 300-year history. “Prior to now, Beaufort always had a lot of visitors, but we didn’t have a lot of meeting space,” O’Brien said. That’s changed recently.” Among the meeting venues that have debuted are two hotels—a 97-room Holiday Inn, with 5,400 sf of meeting space, and a 115room Hilton Garden Inn, with 600 sf of meeting space—that can accommodate meetings of approximately 350 and 70 attendees, respectively, according to Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce president Carlotta Ungaro. Coupling those additions with the current rough economy, “we have a need to focus on marketing Beaufort and being competitive as a meetings destination,” O’Brien said. When Stewart independently formed the Beaufort-Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce—the public body in charge of tourism marketing in Beaufort since 1980— decided to follow suit and formalize its role as a convention and visitors bureau. “With the addition of more local meeting space, we decided, through the encouragement of our local business community, to make our tourism marketing efforts a little more formal,” said Ungaro. “We’ve always been here. We’re just ratcheting up our efforts.” According to Ungaro, the chamber of com- Charleston 95 Hilton Head Island merce will change its name this month to the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce Visitor and Convention Bureau and hire staff for a new tourism department focused on bringing in new visitors. “We haven’t been in the meetings market at all,” Ungaro said. “We just want to get our foothold in it.” In the future, O’Brien hopes those hotels will be supported by a full-sized convention center that can compete with nearby destinations such as Savannah, GA, and Charleston, SC. “We don’t have a convention center yet,” she said, “but we are optimistic that we will have one within the next few years. A study on where that may be is forthcoming.” Since they both want to promote Beaufort for meetings, O’Brien and Ungaro have discussed joining forces. According to O’Brien, however, those discussions were terminated recently after disagreements on funding. I AMAZINGLY AFFORDABLE Book your meeting or group event with Premier Resorts located at Barefoot Resort on the Intracoastal Waterway. An exceptional value, this beautiful resort offers luxury amenities and highly personalized services at surprisingly affordable rates. ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Luxury 6,615 sq. ft. ballroom, nine meeting rooms (30-900 capacity), boardroom Covered and uncovered verandas overlooking the lake Onsite spa, workout facility, mineral Jacuzzi, pools Spacious pre-function and registration areas Luxury suites with waterway views and golf villas Four signature golf courses designed by Dye, Fazio, Love and Norman 142 slip Marina with jet ski and pontoon boat rentals Shopping, dining and entertainment nearby at Barefoot Landing barefootconferenceresort.com 800.304.5028 30 MeetingNews February 16, 2009 www.meetingnews.com http://www.barefootconferenceresort.com http://www.barefootconferenceresort.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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