Benefits of municipal Christmas decorations:
The most obvious benefit of municipal Christmas decorations is the joy and goodwill you’ll generate among your residents. It’s very simple: Christmas lights make people happy. And the more spectacular the display, the greater the joy and happiness generated.
But cities and communities that go big with public displays of Christmas lights are rewarded with something far more substantial than appreciation from their citizens. Municipal Christmas decorations can bring LOTS of attention to your community and can generate lots of free publicity, and attract visitors.
And, of course, at no time of the year are people in more of a spending mood than during Christmas. So your public Christmas light display can also generate a revenue boom.
Want proof? Consider these three examples:
Johnson City, Texas.
For nearly 50 years, Southern Living Magazine has been a leader in promoting the culture and lifestyle of the South. And with more than 15 million readers, if your city or event garners a mention in the magazine, lots of people take notice.
Recently Southern Living noted some of the great places to view Christmas lights in the South. And Johnson City, Texas made the list. Each holiday season, Johnson City hosts the “Lights Spectacular” event, the centerpiece of which is the Blanco County courthouse, which is lit up with 100,000 twinkling Christmas lights.
Dallas didn’t make Southern Living’s list of great public Christmas light displays. Neither did Atlanta, Houston or many other mega-sized southern cities. But the attention of 15 million Southern Living readers was directed to Johnson City, Texas.
Population? Less than 2,000.
St. Augustine, Florida.
If National Geographic were to publish an article titled “The Top Ten Places to See Holiday Lights,” you’d expect the article to focus on some of the biggest cities around the world, wouldn’t you?
Well in fact, National Geographic did publish such an article. And indeed, it focused upon some cities that would be very familiar to jet-setting globetrotters. Vienna, Austria was number one on the list. Hong Kong made number seven.
But a place you’ve probably never heard of – until now – made number ten on this world-wide list: St. Augustine, Florida. Why did St. Augustine make the list? The two million Christmas bulbs that light up the city’s historic district each Christmas had a lot to do with it.
St. Augustine’s population? About 14,000.
McAdenville, North Carolina
Yahoo is the fourth most popular website on the planet, with millions of visitors each day. Recently, Yahoo published an article titled “The Top 10 Destinations for Holiday Lights.”
As with the National Geographic article referenced above, you’d expect some world-class cities to make this list. And they did; New York City was rated as the top destination for holiday lights. Chicago made number five. Baltimore, Denver, and San Antonio also made the list.
But coming in at number seven was another city – let’s say town – that you’ve likely never heard of: McAdenville, North Carolina.
How did McAdenville manage to get included with all of these world-class heavy hitters? It’s because their public Christmas light display is so spectacular that the town has been nicknamed “Christmas Town USA.”
The town estimates that some 600,000 people visit each holiday season, generating nearly $12 million in revenue for the local economy.
McAdenville’s population? About 700.