Visit McKinney year-end review: inflatable-turkey campaign goes viral and store sales rise 23%

Interim director Alicia Holmberg presented the Visit McKinney 2025–2026 year-end review, highlighting a marketing push that included an 'inflatable turkey' community campaign, awards for social and leisure-promotion work, and a newly launched website. Holmberg said the campaign exceeded expectations and helped elevate McKinney’s profile.

"We ended up with over 400 at the end of last year," Holmberg said of the inflatable-turkey placements on the community map, and later reported: "We had an increase in sales of 23%. Our gross sales over $52,000." The board heard that the marketing campaign earned recognition from Destinations Texas (second place for leisure tourism promotion) and an award from the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers for best social media campaign.

Staff also noted sports tourism gains — including strong participation in the McKinney 0.5 marathon and multiple sports tournaments that generated room-night demand — and said the new website, developed with a local firm, uses AI-driven tools and offers customizable visitor experiences. The website went live the day before the meeting, and staff said a fuller presentation will be scheduled to demonstrate its features.

Why it matters: the mix of culturally resonant marketing, awards recognition and measurable retail growth demonstrates the board’s stated goal of growing McKinney’s tourism profile; the staff framed these achievements as both a branding success and a driver of hotel and retail revenue.