WACO, Texas — Tourism numbers for the eclipse are starting to trickle in for the city of Waco, and tourism officials say it was the biggest weekend this area has ever seen.
There were many "Ooh's" and "Ahh's" during the 2024 solar eclipse, and there were many of the same exclamations for the money that the celestial event brought in.
25 News sat down with Dan Quandt, the director of conventions and tourism for the City of Waco, to talk about the eclipse.
“It was phenomenal! It’s all about the memories, and boy did we sell memories that day," he said.
They also sold tickets — a lot of them.
The city’s biggest eclipse festival at Touchdown Alley brought in $410,000 in ticket sales and merchandise.
The hotel tax revenue numbers nor the sales tax have been released yet, but Quandt profit estimates for hotel and short term rental sales will be in the $4 million range — which is a lot for Waco.
“The biggest weekend this area has ever seen — Baylor football times a lot," he said.
It was good for local attractions, too.
The Cameron Park Zoo saw a 100 percent increase over last year.
The Dr. Pepper Museum saw a 160 percent increase.
The Mayborn Museum on Baylor Campus saw a 150 percent increase.
As for visitors, 20 percent were from Houston, some were from Dallas, but the rest were from out of state.
Los Angeles, California was number two in visitors, and Washington D.C. was number 10.
“The community made a lot, but we made a lot more memories — and that will have lots of people saying, 'Let's go back to Waco'," Quandt said.
As soon as those hotel and tax revenue numbers are released in mid-May, we’ll have those for you.
