Austin’s economy is booming. That’s not new news, but new reports of the economic impact of this year’s SXSW provide an eye-opening look into how Austin’s economy is booming. While Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., the economy is quickly growing alongside the population.
The nine-day 2012 SXSW conference this past March generated $190 million, a 12 percent increase from 2011. This is likely due to the 15 percent increase in attendance and 13 percent increase in hotel reservations. Not only does it benefit Austin financially, but also SXSW’s reputation and its ability to bring the best and brightest industry leaders has strengthened its value.
It doesn’t stop there. The ACL Music Festival is next weekend. In the most recent study, the 2011 festival was expected to bring $73 million to the economy. The attendance in 2011 was 75,000 ticket holders a day. Now that the festival will expand to two weekends in 2013, we can only imagine it will have even greater impact on the city.
Of course, we can’t forget the arrival of Formula 1 the weekend of November 16-18, 2012. Circuit of the Americas is projecting an annual economic impact of $400-500 million and 80 percent of event attendees will come from out of state.
The growth of these events, the strong entrepreneurial presence, the corporate companies currently thriving, and the ability to recruit local talent from UT make Austin’s economic and cultural future strong!
