AUSTIN, Texas — The Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix has proved to be one of the busiest weekends in Austin year after year, bringing in millions of dollars in both direct and indirect spending.
"It's a great experience. Hospitality is great. Austin is amazing," said Craig Fallick, an F1 fan visiting from New York.
In 2021, visitors to the race spent over $400 million in direct spending and nearly $200 million indirectly.
Tom Noonan with Visit Austin said it's one of the busiest months.
"October and March are probably our two biggest months of the year," said Noonan. "We'll average somewhere around $600 average rates, usually over a four-night minimum. So there's a lot of revenue obviously for the city."
Noonan said they've worked hard to get more accommodations in the city, but the crowds for F1 weekend prove to break barriers.
"While we've added 6,000 more rooms in the marketplace last year, Formula One had 400,000 attendees. This year, they may be closer to 500,000 attendees," said Noonan.
Who else is getting in on the action? Local Airbnb hosts.
Blake Carter was born and raised in Austin and he said a weekend like this leaves his 40 Airbnbs across the city fully booked.
"We're seeing double, triple, quadruple what we would usually get at some of these properties. And they get booked quickly," said Carter. "I would say about 50% of our travelers are coming here for events and the city."
To him, it's a privilege to work in the city he grew up in, and he said that business is booming throughout the year.
"Austin is No. 1 in, like, conferences and events and live events, live music, things like that. And so we get a ton of travelers that come in for stuff like that," said Carter.
When talking about hotels, Noonan said the industry is a big deal here in Austin, so he'd like to see these visitors continue to come back.
"We have about 135,000 people that work in the hospitality industry, and it's our No. 3 employer. So we need to keep our friends and our neighbors employed," said Noonan.
And for the fans? Many said they're ready to come back and see more of what Austin has to offer.
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