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Visit McKinney presents geolocation analysis of CJ Cup; hotels saw higher out-of-area stays
Summary
Staff presented a Zartico geolocation analysis comparing CJ Cup visitor patterns in 2024 and 2025, finding a rise in out-of-area visitors and an increased share of spending in accommodations. Staff said the dataset did not include a dollar-value economic impact estimate.
Visit McKinney staff presented geolocation and visitor-spend data from Zartico comparing the CJ Cup weeks in 2024 and 2025 and described an increase in out-of-area visitation and a higher share of spending on lodging during the 2025 event.
"This year, visitors accounted for a larger share of total spend," Erin Wharton, executive director at Visit McKinney, told the board. She said out-of-state visitors increased to about 57% of visitors in 2025, up from roughly 52% in 2024. Wharton said the accommodation sector showed a notable change: about 94% of accommodation spending in 2025 came from visitors (people living 50 miles or more away), a 5-percentage-point increase year over year.
Wharton described the dataset as visitor-focused (visitors defined in the presentation as people coming from more than 50 miles) and said it is the board’s second year using Zartico geolocation tracking to inform marketing. "When we use Zartico geolocation data, we are looking at visitor-specific data," she said, noting the board planned to use results to guide targeted marketing and leisure campaigns in submarkets showing increased interest.
Board members asked whether the dataset included an overall dollar-value economic impact. Wharton said the Zartico extract presented did not include a dollar-value impact and that staff could pursue a deeper economic-impact report from the tournament organizers or other sources. "I don't have a dollar value in this data," she said.
The presentation highlighted changes in origin markets: some out-of-area markets, such as Shreveport and Chicago, increased their share year over year. The data also identified the most-visited points of interest within McKinney during the event, including restaurants and lodging properties; Wharton noted the dataset’s geofencing was limited to McKinney city limits and that Zartico does not, in this presentation, trace visitor movement outside the city footprint.
Staff told the board they will share these findings with the tournament’s marketing team and consider using the insights to shift digital advertising buys to draw more overnight visitors from growing out-of-area markets.
