Hilton Head Island To Research The Impact Of Tennis On The Island

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 7th May 2013

Hilton Head Island To Research The Impact Of Tennis On The Island |

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce plans to spend $25,000 to research the value of Hilton Head’s tennis industry.

The South Carolina island has 300-plus tennis courts and clearly draws a lot of visitors, but the Chamber of Commerce wants more specifics and how it might be better marketed, “We’re putting together the data, so we can make the best choices … for the good of the whole business community,” chamber vice president Susan Thomas told the Island Packet, a local newspaper.

Two of the island tennis resorts Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Resort and Palmetto Dunes consistently draw rave reviews, the PTR is also based there, as are some tennis academies.

“I think they’re probably about 10 years overdue,” Jim Stubbs, director of sales and events for Van Der Meer Tennis, told the newspaper. “Hilton Head is well-known in the tennis circle, not just in the United States, but worldwide,” Stubbs said. “Tennis has done a great thing for Hilton Head, and it always takes, obviously, a back seat to golf, but it brings a lot of business to this island.”

A 2009 study said that those who came to the island to play tennis spent an average of $2,800 per visit. Golfers spent about $500 more.

The Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center says it experienced three percent revenue growth from 2011 to 2012. It has added four youth-sized courts. The USTA pitched in to cover the costs to repaint the lines.

“True growth will come from the younger ones who are developing in the sport and staying in it for a lifetime, hopefully,” said John Kerr, director of tennis at Palmetto Dunes. “To me, the important part of this initiative is that it helps the kids have more success sooner.