McKinney, Texas -- What do antique dealers, miniature book collectors, folklore enthusiasts, Texas authors, football players, marching bands, and brides all have in common? This diverse group of people comprises just a portion of those selecting McKinney as their destination of choice.
Visit McKinney, the tourism arm of the city, wrapped up another successful year in 2019, bringing a wide variety of groups to the city and assisting them in locating a venue, securing hotel room blocks, offering registration assistance, and finding transportation. By providing a variety of services, the Visit McKinney staff strives to help these visitors have the best possible experience while spending time in the city.
“As a destination marketing organization, it’s our mission to be an economic driver for the city. Our goal is to bring new money into the city’s economy by attracting visiting groups and individuals to come here, have a great experience, infuse their money into our economy, and go home with great memories of their visit to our community,” said Visit McKinney Board Chair Bryan Perkins.
According to the most recent figures reported by the state travel office, McKinney had more than 582,000 overnight visitors in 2018, generating $9.7 million in local taxes from the $229 million in travel spending by visitors to the city last year. Also, McKinney’s tourism and hospitality industry employs nearly 2,000 people who regularly interact with these visitors.
McKinney is a popular destination for people from around the globe whether they come with family and friends, or travel to the city for a conference, meeting, or other events, according to Perkins. Last year alone, Visit McKinney worked with regional and state groups including Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association, The Antique Divas, Texas Lakes Trail, Texas Agrilife, Texas Pecan Growers Association, and North Texas Yarn Crawl in addition to hundreds of brides, families, and other travelers. In recent years, statewide organizations including the Texas Downtown Association (TDA) and the Texas Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have held their annual conferences in McKinney. In fact, TDA’s leaders are returning to McKinney next week to hold a Board of Directors meeting, stay in local hotels, and enjoy some leisure time on the downtown square.
Visit McKinney has also assisted groups in hosting international travelers to the city. McKinney-based Munzee, a Smartphone gaming app developer, has brought its members in from as far away as Denmark and Lithuania, while the Miniature Book Society’s Annual Conclave had people traveling to McKinney from Australia and countries throughout Europe.
Whether here for business or leisure, visitors stop at the Visitors Center in downtown McKinney on a daily basis. When they stop to pick up maps, brochures, and souvenirs of their visit, the staff also invites them to mark their home towns on a world map mounted by the guest book. To date, visitors from all 50 states and more than 80 countries are represented on the map.
Local corporations - Raytheon, Emerson Process Management, Encore Wire, Simpson Strong-Tie, and others - also regularly host guests for meetings and events at local hotels and venues. Sports and recreation visitors playing lacrosse, softball, and soccer have held tournaments in McKinney, as well as the NCAA Division II Football Championship teams who played at McKinney ISD Stadium in 2018 and 2019, and will hold their annual season-closer here for the next two years as well. And in July 2020, McKinney will be welcoming Drum Corps International for a touring marching band competition.
“It’s our hope that visitors to our city bring family back with them the next time they visit and then recommend McKinney as a fun and welcoming destination to their friends,” Perkins said.