SXSW brings in $167 million for Austin’s economy

The South By Southwest festival was bigger this year than ever before and after it is all said and done, officials have stated that this year’s festival brought in nearly $167 million for Austin’s economy.

According to a story in the Austin American-Statesman, This figure is 47 percent increase than 2010, when $113 million was made. A recent report stated that that this year’s festival had 126,000 attendees and the number of officials registrants was said to be up 40 percent from last year alone. Counting the number of free events, there were nearly 286,000 people in attendance.

South by Southwest has become a major force in Austin and all over the world,” Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell said. “And it’s not just the economic impact. This is the fabric of Austin — what makes us who we are.”

It was also stated that  out-of-towners booked nearly 47,500 hotel rooms during the festival, which is also a 20 percent increase from last year. Because of the increase, rooms were booked anywhere from South Austin to the Domain.