Austin’s busiest month is coming up. How are local hotels booked ahead of ACL and Formula 1?

AUSTIN (KXAN) — This weekend marks the start of a busy month for Austin: four consecutive weekends full of major events in the capital.

According to Visit Austin, the string of October events will attract thousands of fans, and hotel rooms are filling up with tourists flocking to the city.

First up is the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which kicks off the month with two weekends of performances from some of the world’s biggest artists, including Dua Lipa, Blink-182, Chris Stapleton and Chappell Roan.

RELATED: How to get to the 2024 Austin City Limits Music Festival

The next weekend will be filled with Formula 1 on October 18-20 and college football fans, with the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs taking on the No. 2 Texas Longhorns on October 19.

The month ends with the Austin Film Festival taking place October 24-31.

October is historically the busiest month for tourism in Austin, said Wesley Lucas, director of communications for Visit Austin, and the Formula One race is the busiest weekend of the year. The race generated approximately $434 million in direct tourist spending during the 2021 F1 weekend.

“Honestly, for some of our hotels and business partners, the Formula 1 weekend is the weekend they do their best business,” Lucas said. “I think what will be special this year is that there will also be a major football match… I don’t know if it will definitely be a challenge, but we have heard from some of our hotels – they are already sold out.”

Formula 1 weekend occupancy rates are 27% higher than in 2023, after including the highly anticipated SEC showdown. The average room rate is $477 citywide as of Sept. 26, up from $427 in 2023, according to Visit Austin.

Hotel occupancy rates vary depending on the ACL weekend. According to Visit Austin, approximately 41% of hotels are booked this year during the first weekend, which is approximately 7% more than in 2023. Occupancy for Weekend Two is approximately 38%, which is approximately 5% less than in 2023.

It is worth noting that the Texas-Oklahoma game took place during the first weekend of 2023. The game was scheduled for the second weekend this year. Visit Austin and see higher demand for hotels during the UT-OU weekend because local festival-goers typically arrive on the second weekend, which means fewer hotel rooms are needed.

The Austin Film Festival wraps up the busiest month in Austin. Occupancy is 11% lower than in 2023, with about 25% of hotel rooms booked in the city. According to Visit Austin, many of them have been group nights in the past.

Overall, October reservations are similar to last year, according to Visit Austin. While occupancy increased by 2% in October 2024, the average daily rate increased by 1% compared to 2023.

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