AUSTIN (KXAN) — Local group Visit Austin says 78% of hotel rooms were booked by the April 8 solar eclipse, but despite the success, the number of participants was not as large as originally expected. Ta.
Wesley Lucas of Visit Austin said the agency regularly tracks occupancy of Austin's 50,000 hotel rooms.
She said the number of rooms booked at Eclipse Travel is about the same as other large regional events such as the Austin City Limits Festival and South by Southwest. Lucas said he expected Eclipse travel to be similar to the occupancy seen on F1 weekends, which has hovered just a few points below 100% for several years.
She said the agency investigated why the eclipse stay did not reach its potential sell-out and attributed it to the different spending habits of the eclipse crowd.
“We found in our research that Eclipse travelers are typically more budget-conscious when making travel decisions, so they choose campgrounds, or select serviced hotels, short-term rentals, or perhaps for large groups. They're probably staying where the group is traveling together,” Lucas said.
Lucas said Visit Austin will receive Smith Travel Research's findings in the coming months to share a comprehensive view of the eclipse's economic impact.
Visitors are expected to spend more than $1 billion in Austin and the surrounding Hill Country during the April 8 solar eclipse, giving Austin one of the biggest economic boosts of the year.
