College football playoffs in Austin to boost local tourism

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Darrel K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium rocking with Longhorn football in December is certainly something Austin is not used to. But it's happening Saturday with the first round of the college football playoffs happening against Clemson.

The game will end up helping tourism in Austin and beyond.

"December is typically a slower month for [Austin], so to have a major event like a home football game, which we've never had before for UT, this is going to be a pretty good weekend for December," Wesley Lucas, Director of Communications for Visit Austin, said.

That winter slump will get a major boost when the Clemson Tigers come to take on the Longhorns.

Lucas said it is nothing but good news for the city.

"Certainly folks come into town, they stay in hotels, they go out to eat, they go shopping -- especially this close to the holiday, they might even do a little Christmas shopping," she said.

The money trail trickles far away from DKR Texas Memorial Stadium, too.

"Really all businesses, not just downtown and the university corridor, are going to benefit from this business as well," Lucas added.

"We were forecasting to be about 30% and we're looking to be double that, if not more, now," said Blake Triplett, Director of Sales and Marketing for the W Austin hotel. "We picked up 20% of the hotel in the last week, so it's definitely stronger than normal."

A winning weekend for Austin, no matter what happens on the football field.

"We have such a unique and authentic city that people want to experience," Lucas said. "We're looking forward to welcoming football fans this weekend at a unique time that we don't normally get to welcome football fans."