TYLER, Texas — The bright sunny wide-open fields near Gilmer will go dark April 8, and Brandi Gage, owner of Prairie Creek event space near Gilmer, couldn’t be more excited.
“We’ve invited people to camp," Gage said.
Her event space is in the path of totality for April 8 total solar eclipse.
“Three minutes and 17 seconds is what we get here," she said.
This event space that typically hosts weddings and market days will become a campground for what Gage is calling, Prairie Creek's Total Eclipse on the Farm 2024.
“The possibility is great as far as the financial impact," Gage said.
Another business with a potential pay day is Los Pinos Winery near Pittsburg, where totality could be a total success.
Los Pinos isn’t open on Mondays, but it will be for the eclipse. They’re having a ticketed event that will be $20 a person. And consider this for some of their wine festivals, they’ll have more than 300 visitors.
Then, there are bottles of wine (ranging from $20 to $70, a charcuterie box for $10, t-shirts for $20 and that easily starts to add up. The winery could make tens of thousands of dollars for being open just three hours.
Tyler is in the path of totality. That’s certain. But how much money could that mean for Tyler? That number is less certain.
“As far as economic impact is concerned, we’re not really sure what’s it’s going to look like, but we feel very confident we will have our hotel rooms filled," Visit Tyler President Diann Bayes said.
That includes the Sunday night before the eclipse when twice as many hotel rooms as usual could be filled. Economist Ray Perryman estimates the eclipse could have a $100 million financial impact on East Texas. That includes $22 million in retail, $15 million in restaurants and $6 million in hotels.
“We’re excited about it," Bayes said. "We have around 3,700 hotel rooms in our community and so to have all those filled with one, two maybe three people with families coming in going to be really fun."
And it doesn’t stop there. Visit Tyler knows the eclipse and the weekend events around Tyler before totality could have a lasting impact on new or returning tourism dollars.
“This is a time for the businesses in our community to really welcome the people who are coming to see the eclipse and we can encourage them to come back after they’ve had a great time here," Bayes said.
Gage said she's heard a lot of people are waiting on the 10-day forecast.
Clear skies could make or break the financial forecasts for business, such as Prairie Creek. But in the end, Gage knows the eclipse is about more than the money.
“We’re just encouraging anyone, anywhere they are to get in the path of totality because this is not something we can create, this is a gift," Gage said.
The economic impact is tied to all the events going on in Tyler and across East Texas that weekend and on April 8.
For a complete list of events across East Texas, click here.