JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With a reported 60,000 tickets sold for this year's TaxSlayer Bowl featuring the University of Iowa and University of Tennessee, it was a good New Year's holday for those in Jacksonville's hospitality industry.
Figures released Friday by Visit Jacksonville show 49,853 room nights were booked between Dec. 28 and January 3 this year, a 27 percent increase over the 38,976 room nights from the same period last year.
Recommended Videos
The bowl's official travel agency, MTS Travel, offered two-night packages, including a $60 game ticket for $789 per person at the Hyatt and $729 at the Omni as soon as this year's teams were announced.
The chamber said revenue to area hotels during bowl week this year added up to $4.4 million.
Mike Islava, director of sales and marketing for Omni Jacksonville, said even without being able to hang the "no vacancy" sign on the hotel, having the Omni booked at 80 percent or more the week after Christmas is a plus.
"We could be out there fighting for business," he told the Financial News and Daily Record.
When the Gator Bowl debuted in 1945 it was just the fifth college bowl game, joining the Cotton, Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls.