Scottsdale tourism staff recap Scott’s Dazzle and Western Week; Old Town website to be refreshed

Angelica Capullo, with the Scottsdale Tourism and Events Division, recapped this year’s Scott’s Dazzle and Western Week events and outlined a refresh of the Old Town Scottsdale website, saying the current site is “over 7 years old and the back end is really cumbersome in terms of making updates.”

Capullo said the website update is “coming to fruition” and will use new branding and added features aimed at promoting merchants and event attendance. Key new functions will include a blog, a social-media feed and a directory that can be filtered by district so users can search, for example, for restaurants specifically in the Arts District.

The presentation highlighted how Scott’s Dazzle allowed event organizers to showcase each Old Town district with distinct décor tied to the tourism and events strategic plan. On Fifth Avenue, organizers used elf figures placed in planters and on monument signs to create photo opportunities. The Arts District featured more formal, elegant lighting. The entrance to the civic center displayed a family-friendly photo opportunity, and the waterfront was transformed into an “enchanted winter village,” with canal banks lined with decorations.

Capullo said merchants have expressed interest in getting involved with the website’s blog and other features; she emphasized the site’s intent will continue to be to “drive traffic to our merchants, drive attendance at our events, and really position Old Town … in the spotlight for residents and tourists.” No formal actions or votes were recorded during the presentation, and Capullo did not provide a public timeline or budget for completing the website refresh.

Staff signaled opportunities for merchant participation but gave no deadline or funding breakdown; further details on implementation and launch timing were not specified.