College Station city council members unanimously approve a new holiday marketing agreement with Santa’s Wonderland.
Economic development manager Brian Piscacek says the focus is shifting from hotels, which were assisted during the pandemic, to exposing visitors to city signage when they rode shuttle buses between the theme park and Post Oak Mall.
City manager Bryan Woods spoke to spending $75,000 dollars in hotel occupancy tax money with Santa’s Wonderland. That is down from $150,000 each of the last three years. Woods says the remaining $75,000 is being shifted to other areas to attract additional nights in College Station hotels and “additional benefit into the community.”
Councilwoman Elizabeth Cunha asked staff to also consider signage inside shuttle buses that contains QR codes along with the planned banners on the exterior.
The council also learned that the ice rink at Santa’s Wonderland is not going away. It is being moved to accommodate a larger snow play area that will include a lighted sign saying “College Station”.
Piscacek told the council that the hotel support/advertising package offered by Santa’s Wonderland is changing. The previous agreement included a sponsorship of the Santa’s Wonderland lodging page
which provided the option for College Station hotels to offer a special deal, like a discounted rate. This was presented at no cost to any hotel. The new city agreement with the theme park focuses more on preserving signage throughout the attraction and adding additional marketing benefits via bus transportation from Post Oak Mall. As a result, Santa’s Wonderland opened the lodging page to
area hotels for individual sponsorships.
Piscacek also told the council “We expect to continue our partnership with College Station hotels by featuring special deals on our “Christmas in College Station” webpage. Our marketing collateral will push visitors to that page, where they will find those deals along with other Christmas specials, events, and activities.”
Click below to hear comments from the September 28, 2023 College Station city council meeting.