HHI-B Chamber Recognized For Restaurant Week & Taste of the Lowcountry
The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce won a Communications Excellence Award from the Carolinas Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (CACCE) for its 2021 Chamber Restaurant Week & Taste of the Lowcountry Campaign.
CACCE recognized the 2022 Communication Excellence Awards during its Staff Leadership Development Conference held in April at the Beach House Resort in Hilton Head Island, SC. The Communication Excellence Awards recognize outstanding communications efforts by chambers of commerce in North Carolina and South Carolina.
The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce won in the Advertising & Marketing category.
Every February, there’s Chamber Restaurant Week where, for the past 14 years, over 60 restaurants offer a special menu during a specific week. The chamber displays the restaurant logo and link to the menu on ChamberRestaurantWeek.com, and then promotes that website to the community via e-blasts, social media, press releases, advertising, and more.
But like many things that the pandemic turned upside down, Chamber Restaurant Week was different in 2021. Many local restaurants were still reeling from COVID-19 restrictions and fewer people dining out. The chamber partnered with several businesses who prospered in our area during the pandemic - namely real estate companies, banks, and other professional services - for the Taste of The Lowcountry silent auction.
Businesses would purchase a gift card from a member restaurant of their choice, and then donate it to the silent auction that the chamber promoted in tandem with Chamber Restaurant Week that year. The Taste of The Lowcountry Silent Auction injected $17,170 into 79 local restaurants. It was a win-win-win for the businesses, restaurants, and the chamber.
People were eager to support local restaurants, as the website garnered 32,390 pageviews and 73,944 click-thrus/referrals to menus and reservations.
In February 2022, there was more excitement over Chamber Restaurant Week as restaurants resumed pre-pandemic business. The chamber heavily promoted the website through its communications to members and residents, podcasts, social media posts, and advertising. As a result, 20% more restaurants participated. There was also a 46% increase in click-thrus/referrals to partner menus, and 26% increase in page views to the ChamberRestaurantWeek.com website.