2014 Wooden Boat Show Intercept Survey

March 9, 2015
|In South Carolina Maritime Museum | Updates Blog
|By Sally Swineford

Here are the results of the 2014 Wooden Boat Show Intercept Survey conducted by the Georgetown School of Arts and Sciences in conjunction with Lauren Joseph, Tourism Marketing Director for Georgetown County.

The Wooden Boat Show is the SC Maritime Museum’s most important fundraiser. Festival proceeds built the museum and are now the primary funding source for museum operations.

The Georgetown School of Arts and Sciences is a community-based college preparatory school located in downtown Georgetown. The intercept survey was a “real world” Statistics class project for these students. Be sure to read more about the intercept study and the “Kingfishers” community service at the 2014 Wooden Boat Show here: KINGFISHERS ROCKED THE BOAT

The students randomly selected and interviewed people who attended the 2014 Boat Show. The purpose of the survey was to determine the number of attendees and to assess the boat show’s economic impact on Accommodations and Hospitality Taxes.

Total number of attendees surveyed:  284

  • Residents: 94  (33%)
  • Non-residents: 190  (67%)
    • Day trippers- Non-residents who did not stay overnight: 87  (46%)
    • Overnighters – Non-residents who stayed overnight: 103  (54%)

Total Non-resident Overnighters (103)

  • Unpaid: 32 (31% of overnighters did not pay for a rented accommodation)
  • Paid: 71 (69% of overnighters paid for a rented accommodation)
    • Rented accommodations within Georgetown Inc. Areas: 30
      (42.2% of overnighters stayed in a rented accommodation in incorporated areas of incorporated Georgetown County)
    • Rented accommodations outside Georgetown Inc. Areas: 41
      (57.7% of overnighters stayed in a rented accommodation in non-incorporated areas of Georgetown County)

Percentage of total surveyed who paid for a rented accommodation in Georgetown County, outside of incorporated areas: 14.5% 

Percentage of total surveyed who dined in a restaurant in the area: 53% 

Conclusion:
As seen from the results, 14.5% of 2014 Georgetown Wooden Boat Show attendees stayed in a rented accommodation, outside of the incorporated parts of Georgetown County (i.e. Georgetown City, Pawley’s Island Inc., anywhere north of the Garden City Pier).

This means that, with an estimated attendance of 10,000, roughly 1,450 of the tourists at the Wooden Boat Show paid A-taxes to Georgetown County on their rented accommodations.