Austinites avoided F1
11-20-2012, 11:51 AM
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Austinites avoided F1
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ats-limit.html
From the Austin Business Journal:
I’ve seen more Austinites show up to party for Halloween.
It seemed as though Austin — except anything or anyone directly related to F1 or Fan Fest — essentially shut down on the Thursday night before race weekend.
The Friday morning commute was unusually easy everywhere, and unless you were in the stream of F1 fans and party destinations, you probably saw a relatively quiet city on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
But inside that hectic stream, the race fans and out-of-towners delivered the spending that was expected. Restaurants such as Frank downtown had record-breaking days, and executives are pleased with the caliber of networking that occurred on and off the track. But businesses on the outskirts of the party zones have little to celebrate. In fact, a few are outright disappointed by the low turnout.
Next year, the F1 crowd will likely be bigger — but not big enough to produce a citywide payday for businesses. For that to happen, locals will have to not be such scaredy-cats when this big event rolls around.
I know, steering clear of out-of-towners and these big events is a rite of passage for many Austinites. But trust me, Austin, it wasn’t bad. In fact, the F1 festivities — from the free concerts downtown to the race to the VIP celebrations behind closed doors — were quite fun.
From the Austin Business Journal:
I’ve seen more Austinites show up to party for Halloween.
It seemed as though Austin — except anything or anyone directly related to F1 or Fan Fest — essentially shut down on the Thursday night before race weekend.
The Friday morning commute was unusually easy everywhere, and unless you were in the stream of F1 fans and party destinations, you probably saw a relatively quiet city on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
But inside that hectic stream, the race fans and out-of-towners delivered the spending that was expected. Restaurants such as Frank downtown had record-breaking days, and executives are pleased with the caliber of networking that occurred on and off the track. But businesses on the outskirts of the party zones have little to celebrate. In fact, a few are outright disappointed by the low turnout.
Next year, the F1 crowd will likely be bigger — but not big enough to produce a citywide payday for businesses. For that to happen, locals will have to not be such scaredy-cats when this big event rolls around.
I know, steering clear of out-of-towners and these big events is a rite of passage for many Austinites. But trust me, Austin, it wasn’t bad. In fact, the F1 festivities — from the free concerts downtown to the race to the VIP celebrations behind closed doors — were quite fun.
11-21-2012, 10:02 AM
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Quite a few friends and clients didn't go to the race either because of the promised traffic nightmare. I know a few downtown offices that let everyone work from home on Friday. People and the media and will adjust next year.
11-21-2012, 10:47 AM
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http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...ats-limit.html
From the Austin Business Journal:
I’ve seen more Austinites show up to party for Halloween.
It seemed as though Austin — except anything or anyone directly related to F1 or Fan Fest — essentially shut down on the Thursday night before race weekend.
The Friday morning commute was unusually easy everywhere, and unless you were in the stream of F1 fans and party destinations, you probably saw a relatively quiet city on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
But inside that hectic stream, the race fans and out-of-towners delivered the spending that was expected. Restaurants such as Frank downtown had record-breaking days, and executives are pleased with the caliber of networking that occurred on and off the track. But businesses on the outskirts of the party zones have little to celebrate. In fact, a few are outright disappointed by the low turnout.
Next year, the F1 crowd will likely be bigger — but not big enough to produce a citywide payday for businesses. For that to happen, locals will have to not be such scaredy-cats when this big event rolls around.
I know, steering clear of out-of-towners and these big events is a rite of passage for many Austinites. But trust me, Austin, it wasn’t bad. In fact, the F1 festivities — from the free concerts downtown to the race to the VIP celebrations behind closed doors — were quite fun.
From the Austin Business Journal:
I’ve seen more Austinites show up to party for Halloween.
It seemed as though Austin — except anything or anyone directly related to F1 or Fan Fest — essentially shut down on the Thursday night before race weekend.
The Friday morning commute was unusually easy everywhere, and unless you were in the stream of F1 fans and party destinations, you probably saw a relatively quiet city on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
But inside that hectic stream, the race fans and out-of-towners delivered the spending that was expected. Restaurants such as Frank downtown had record-breaking days, and executives are pleased with the caliber of networking that occurred on and off the track. But businesses on the outskirts of the party zones have little to celebrate. In fact, a few are outright disappointed by the low turnout.
Next year, the F1 crowd will likely be bigger — but not big enough to produce a citywide payday for businesses. For that to happen, locals will have to not be such scaredy-cats when this big event rolls around.
I know, steering clear of out-of-towners and these big events is a rite of passage for many Austinites. But trust me, Austin, it wasn’t bad. In fact, the F1 festivities — from the free concerts downtown to the race to the VIP celebrations behind closed doors — were quite fun.
F1 racing still a mystery to many and that is main thing.
11-21-2012, 11:40 AM
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Naturally this quote from a business journal will want to best and hope that next year even better. History show that F1 race attendance always go down year after year. This happen at big Indy track and they been around for over 100 years. Many people I talk to at race also complain about bad hotel prices and that they are the worst they ever have seen. City needs to get on that pure greed for benefit of next year.
F1 racing still a mystery to many and that is main thing.
F1 racing still a mystery to many and that is main thing.
The UT game is going to be a challenge to find a hotel room in Austin at a decent price, but you have the alternative of heading toward San Antonio. WIth that new 85 MPH toll road, it's less than an hour drive. I remember not being able to find hotels in Indy when they first started the F1 races there and we had to stay in Bloomington near the university about 45 min. away.
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11-21-2012, 12:52 PM
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I disagree, the race with be attended by A LOT more people next year. I know a great percentage of people that didn't go this year because of one thing or another but the main reason is they didn't know if it would really be completed in time. With the huge success they had, guaranteed that next year will be even bigger.
The UT game is going to be a challenge to find a hotel room in Austin at a decent price, but you have the alternative of heading toward San Antonio. WIth that new 85 MPH toll road, it's less than an hour drive. I remember not being able to find hotels in Indy when they first started the F1 races there and we had to stay in Bloomington near the university about 45 min. away.
The UT game is going to be a challenge to find a hotel room in Austin at a decent price, but you have the alternative of heading toward San Antonio. WIth that new 85 MPH toll road, it's less than an hour drive. I remember not being able to find hotels in Indy when they first started the F1 races there and we had to stay in Bloomington near the university about 45 min. away.
When speaking with others at race they talk about UT game and I was told most who come to that drive away home after.
11-21-2012, 03:21 PM
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The hotel room situation was blown way out of proportion. When we first booked all we could find was a LaQuinta for $700 a night! Upon arrival the place was a dump, but the manager was cool and said the new rate was "only" $200...and there were lots of rooms available in Austin. I guess a lot of rooms were blocked off and the demand never materialized. I made a quick call and got a double room at the Hyatt for the weekend.
11-22-2012, 10:27 AM
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The hotel room situation was blown way out of proportion. When we first booked all we could find was a LaQuinta for $700 a night! Upon arrival the place was a dump, but the manager was cool and said the new rate was "only" $200...and there were lots of rooms available in Austin. I guess a lot of rooms were blocked off and the demand never materialized. I made a quick call and got a double room at the Hyatt for the weekend.
