Sweet Tea Trolley Tour

Tourism Council Minutes

March 28th, 2013, 8:00 a.m.

Sweet Tea Trolley Tour

Members attending, Bob Shipley(Firewater Grille),Mary Lovvorn (Holiday Inn Express Summerville), Keith Simmons (Traveler Magazine), Nicole Felton (Wingate by Wyndham), Diane Armstrong (Tudor Oaks B&B), Brad Mallet, Sara(Coastal Coffee Roasters), Kelly Schlemann (HIE Charleston North), Linda Shelbourne (Linwood Bed & Breakfast), Bill & Margaret Collins, Madelyn Robinson(Town of Summerville),Jan Hursey(DREAM), Leslie Cantu & Ellen Priest(Summerville Journal Scene), Dottie & Will Rizzo (Azalea Magazine), Ashley Chapman (Colonial Dorchester), Margaret Bailey, Maggie Bryant, Jerry Davis , Debbie Maccario (Maggie Rose) Doyle Best(Town of Summerville Parks), Jane Knight( Charleston Tea Plantation), Bob Ingram(Dorchester Children’s Center), Heather Leiterman( The Finishiing Touch), Susan Worthy(Bookkeeper LLC), Fred Worthy (Worthy Exchange),

Staff attending: Tori Burke- Koskela, Marie McLeod, Sue Sanders, Fay Bell, Abby Hartman, Alisha Smith Tina Zimmerman

Meeting highlights:

Tina Zimmerman welcomed attendees to take the Sweet Tea Trolley Tour of historic Summerville.

Barbara Hill, Historian/Tour Guide welcomed guest onto the “Absolutely Charleston” Trolley and proceeded with Sweet Tea Trolley Tour through Historic Summerville. We made two runs one at 8:00 another following at 9:30. Following the trolley tour a task team representing Azalea Square, Gahagan, and Historic downtown and Charleston cruise traffic met to discuss the feasibility of a trolley in Summerville. The task team will meet again April 15th at the Chamber boardroom to follow up on information gathered.

·  Brochure Service Opportunity- businesses are invited to include their rack card into our mail outs to specific request for information on Summerville. This is a service provided by the Chamber cost is .25 cents per brochure to cover postage expense. Contact for more information.

·  TAG Grant application due April 2nd. The Chamber applied for a Tourism Advertising Grant provided by the South Carolina Parks, Recreation Tourism agency. This is a grant available to us as the designated Marketing organization for Summerville. It is a 1-1 match for advertising, and used to promote Dorchester County & Summerville. We will find out if we receive the grant in June. The Chamber was awarded the TAG grant in 2012/2013 (July-June) and reported a 25 % increase in visitor traffic with a 54% increase in request for information about Summerville. The Tourism Advertising Grant was instrumental in this increase affording us the opportunity to advertise in publications reaching previous areas we haven’t advertised in. A major component of our grant request is to promote the Sweet Tea Trail.

·  So WHAT IS IT? The Sweet Tea Trial is a marketing campaign, encouraging visitors to take the back road…and discover small town South Carolina, After much research, we lay claim to the fact that Summerville is the “Birthplace of Sweet Tea” and in doing so, we have created a Sweet Tea Trail that promotes exploring Summerville and ultimately supporting the undiscovered South Carolina Campaign. The goal of the Sweet Tea Trail is to lead tourists off I-26, through Azalea Square experiencing modern shopping, hotels and dining. Visitors will continue the trail to historic downtown Summerville filled with unique shops and restaurants leading them to beautiful Azalea Park and a self-guided walking tour of historic homes. The trail easily travels to Colonial Dorchester State Park for a one-of a-kind experience as well as scenic Hwy 61, Middleton Place (only 8 miles from downtown Summerville), Magnolia Gardens and ending at Drayton Hall. Billboards were placed during the holidays –Follow the Sweet Tea Trail to Summerville. Location are I-26 MM 177, (2 faces east and west bound), I-95 MM 82 (2 faces) north bound by St George and I-95 mm 103 south bound by Santee. Contact for more information.

·  Reminder! The Community Events Calendar is now online and can be very beneficial for avoiding the scheduling of an event on a date that already has an activity. To have your event added to the Community Event Calendar at www.visitsummerville.com,please submit your request at http://visitsummerville.com/html/events.html

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·  Weekend Planner—is emailed each Thursday with events that are happening in Summerville or Dorchester County. Weekend Planner Article Submission: If you haveevents happening in Summerville or Dorchester County you wish to include, e-mail a brief paragraph (50 words or less)in the body of the message or as a MS Word attachment toJoann Brooks at .A flyer in pdf format that can be used as a link in the e-news may also be provided for more information. Photos should be no more than 600 pixels wide and in jpeg format.

Next meeting date: April 25th 8:30(Note time change) @ Middleton Plantation

Minutes submitted by Tina Zimmerman

Tourism Coordinator,