In 2018, the City of Frisco, TX, one of the fastest growing cities in the country, wanted to better understand their visitor population. They conducted multiple economic impact studies looking for answers. Though they discovered that nearly 45% of the $2.1 billion in visitor spending went towards retail, they still didn’t understand who their visitors were, where they came from, and where they like to go when they visit.
Visit Frisco found the answers to their questions with Buxton. With over 25 years of experience working within the private and public sector, Buxton has developed strategic relationships with best-in-class capabilities, which gave Visit Frisco the confidence it needed to begin a partnership in 2018.
Identifying Visitors to Frisco
The initial goal of the partnership was simple: understand visitors to bolster economic growth.Visit Frisco’s Executive Director Marla Roe explains that the prior studies “didn’t dig into our visitor’s psychographic and geographic makeup the way that Buxton’s does, so it’s been good information from a targeting perspective.”
Buxton studied Frisco’s visitor trade area to identify both day-trippers and overnight guests.
Ultimately, Buxton discovered 86% of visits in Frisco are from day-trippers that live up to 75 miles away. As for overnight guests, Buxton found the majority of travel from Texas cities, as well as surrounding states, such as Oklahoma. Additional visitor insights, provided by the consumer assessment, indicated that visitors are highly educated and prosperous, as well as music lovers, sports fans, and savvy investors. And while day-trippers are primarily family households, other visitors are a mix of singles, empty-nesters and families.
Collaborative Success
Identifying the overall visitors, daytrip visitors, and overnight visitors was the first step in producing an economic development and recruitment strategy. After developing the profile of Frisco’s visitors, Buxton “geo-fenced attractions outside the city to identify economic and entertainment opportunities,” said Jake Sillavan, former Digital Marketing and Research Manager at Visit Frisco.
Understanding the top attractions in the neighboring communities was key in Visit Frisco’s current and future developments. Most importantly, the data validation prompted Visit Frisco to join forces with the Frisco Economic Development Corporation to attract economic and entertainment venues for their citizens and visitors. This collaborative effort led to the development of Music Street Frisco – an indoor and outdoor live music venue – which is projected to open between fall 2021 and spring 2022.
Music Street Frisco is an exciting addition to the local culture, as it will be the first “acoustically pure” concert hall in Frisco with studio-quality recording and broadcasting capabilities. This concert venue will be unlike anything in the surrounding communities and will no doubt be a big draw for visitors and Frisco residents alike.
Key Applications
With Buxton’s data to back-up their decision, Visit Frisco felt confident targeting visitors in Oklahoma City. “The Buxton results identified and validated the key markets, where we need to be, like Oklahoma City and Houston,” said Sillavan.
Not only did Buxton’s analysis direct Visit Frisco toward the right markets, but “the results confirmed the need to purchase additional advertising geared towards affluent travelers. It also helped us target our visitor’s lifestyles habits,” stated Roe. Buxton empowered Visit Frisco to make unbiased decisions and execute media buys with confidence.
“The Buxton results identified and validated where we need to be, like Oklahoma City and Houston.”
By using consumer analytics, Visit Frisco and its partners can ensure that marketing and development efforts are grounded in facts.