In anticipation of the upcoming F1 race in Austin, hotels and limousines are all booked up and many restaurants are already taking reservations. Hotel rooms that normally go for $200 a night are now selling at ten times that much, or more. Parking spaces for the race are selling for $200 for the three days. The city is considering adding a tourist tax to hotels and restaurants. I am deeply concerned that greed in anticipation of many wealthy tourists is overcoming what would normally be just a price increase based on demand. I am also concerned that many of the visitors to Austin will realize that they are being soaked and this will not make a good impression on them. The best way to insure that the race will continue to be successful year after year is to treat our visitors fairly and with Texas hospitality, not with greed. Races2U will not change our prices just to squeeze out a few extra dollars from our guests. We’ll count on increased visitor traffic to sell more of our products and services. Let’s make sure that attendees at this event and all future events at the Circuit of the Americas will remember the great time they had in Austin, not how expensive it was.
