“[Residents] may not see that difference themselves, but we know that through third-party research that it is having an impact on Frisco,” Visit Frisco Executive Director Marla Roe said in an interview with Community Impact.
Visit Frisco is the official destination marketing organization for the city. In May 2022, just over 2,780 visitors brought an estimated $1.03 million to the Frisco economy. In May 2023, that number shot up by 1,001% to $11.34 million thanks to nine times more visitors, the data shows.
Roe said one factor behind the increase in May was the multiple high-visibility events hosted in Frisco, such as the Academy of Country Music Awards and the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
“It’s just a huge win for everybody, and these events are just the beginning,” said Christal Howard, interim co-president and CEO at the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, of the additional money brought in by the high-profile events.The breakdown
Residents might not notice the ripple effects of the influx to the economy until they do their taxes next year, Roe said.
“They may not be able to attribute it, but tourism in general saves homeowners $1,653 per year [in property taxes],” Roe said.
Months such as May are also a good sign of new business opportunities in Frisco, Howard said. For example, the hotels, restaurants and events at the Professional Golfers' Association of America's North Frisco campus would not exist without the larger championship events, she said.
“The bigger benefit is long term,” Howard said. “All of those people now know about Frisco and may come back, whether that means moving here or visiting again.”
Dig deeper
New businesses coming to the area mean job opportunities for future generations of Frisco residents and workers, Howard said.
“I think about it through the perspective of my daughter,” she said. “Whether it's waiting tables at a restaurant or working at a golf course or Universal Studios coming in the future, I am excited for her to have more opportunities to work but work here near home, when she's starting out as a teenager.”
What else?
Local events also brought revenue into Frisco during May, Howard said. Music on Main was able to bring North Texas musicians back to the Rail District starting in April after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The additional foot traffic from the event coupled with the other May events had a positive effect on sales, said Kristen Tsu, owner of Rail District store Bittersweet Ivy.
“We had one of our top months of the year in May,” Tsu said.
The high-sales month was also due to new business opportunities from the ACM Awards as customers came into the shop to buy awards show-ready outfits, Tsu said.
Another benefit from the month highlighted by Visit Frisco was in its year-over-year earned media value, which jumped from $1.28 million to $108.69 million.
Earned media value is a number compiled by industry analysts to represent the cost of advertising the city would have to put out to receive the same economic impact, Roe said.
“We're still going to reap the benefits of this for some time to come,” Howard said.
Stay tuned
More large-scale events are just around the corner for Frisco.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup being held in Dallas, the entire metroplex is expected to see millions of dollars from a boost in tourism.
Frisco is also in the running to act as a base camp for one of the teams or as a referee training camp, which could be another tourism draw as fans come to the city to watch their favorite teams practice.
“All of these events will continue to compound and build upon one another [to] make Frisco an even more attractive place for new people,” Howard said.
