By Moses Leos III.
‘Tis the season for lighted exhibits, hot cocoa and merriment.
Preparations are underway in Stagecoach Park, as 50 exhibits strung out over half a mile will greet visitors at the 2013 Buda Trail of Lights, which opens to the public this Friday.
Parks and Recreation Director Andy Czimskey estimates the event brought more than 14,000 people to Buda last year. He says the event will continue to grow, as people realize Buda has its own Trail of Lights.
“[The trail] brings a tremendous economic impact for the city,” Czimskey said. “It brings a lot of visitors from out of town.”
The numbers justify the claim. Last year, Buda saw an 8.92 percent sales tax increase in December 2012 from December 2011. Overall, the event last year helped increase the year-to-date sales tax amount by 2.65 percent.
Tourism director Lysa Gonzalez said she increased advertising of the trail this year. Overall, Gonzalez said the city spent $5,000 on trail advertising; 20 percent was spent locally. She said most of the city’s local advertising is through social media, press releases or simple word of mouth.
“We try to do our local advertising through public relations,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of our community knows it’s happening, so [local advertising] funds are likely to decrease.”
The remaining 80 percent is done through online advertising. Gonzalez said she placed ads with the Fall Bazaar, an online advertising piece for the Houston Chronicle, and with texashighways.com, the online version of the Texas Department of Transportation’s monthly magazine.
She plans to track how many hits those advertisements generated, to gauge their effectiveness.
In addition, the city will keep tabs on how many people stay a night in the city. Gonzalez said she did not have hotel numbers from last year’s trail.
This fiscal year, Buda set aside $34,750 for the project. Finance Director Sidonna Faust said the city aims to receive $20,000 back from community donations and reimbursements, lowering the city’s portion to $14,750.
Of the community donations, $5,000 will come from U.S. Foods and $1,000 from Jardine’s and Concentra, along with several smaller donations from other groups.
Czimskey said one change from previous Trail of Lights years will be the inclusion of a theme. This year, it’s “A Hill Country Christmas village.”
The city closed down Stagecoach Park on Nov. 20 to begin building rustic store fronts in preparation for the grand opening. The centerpiece will be a porch built in front of Clint’s Cabin, the location for Santa.
Czimskey said the city will also add more to Santa’s Village, adding, “We want to recreate an ‘old-timey’ feel this year.”
While much of the setup for the trail will remain unchanged, Buda hopes several new features bring visitors downtown – an area lacking foot traffic during previous trails.
The Trail of Lights shuttle, which is free to the public, is run by the Parks and Recreations department. It has traditionally looped between Cabela’s and Stagecoach Park. Czimskey said this year it will also loop to downtown and back again.
According to Gonzalez, the addition of the downtown shuttle loop is meant to bring more business to the downtown district. However, the challenge will be getting downtown business owners on board with the plan.
Gonzalez said many businesses close their doors around 5-5:30 p.m. With the trail starting at 6 p.m., the city aims to find a way to capitalize on local businesses.
The importance of it all is to create a welcoming atmosphere to visitors, both local and from out of town. Whether sprucing up downtown with décor, or having the trail, the goal is to ensure people spend their money in Buda.
“It’s good for putting that sense of community among our residents. We want to give them something to do, and bring holiday cheer to Buda,” Gonzalez said. “If we don’t do anything, people will go somewhere else. We want to make sure [visitors] are at home.”
