The March 2023 Event Index reveals 18 cities that need to prepare for unusually busy weeks as sports, major concerts and the key holiday festivals events drive more than $700 million and millions of people into cities across America. Phoenix, Las Vegas, Jacksonville, Tampa and Tulsa will experience the most intense event activity clusters.

The Super Bowl may be over for the year, but Phoenix is even busier with event this month than last (see graph to the right) as the Taylor Swift Eras Tour overlaps with two major festivals.

The largest events in this demand surge are:

• Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival from March 16 – 19 with a predicted attendance of 350,000, driving $43,662,000 in local spending.
• Arizona Aloha Festival on March 11 – 12 with a predicted attendance of 100,000, driving $18,712,000 in local spending.
• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour on March 17 and 18, each with a predicted attendance of 73,000, driving $5,245,000 per event.
• The Eras Official Tailgate Party on March 17 with a predicted attendance of 73,000, driving $8,059,000 in local spending.
• Celebration of Fine Art festival on March 14 -26 with a predicted attendance of 52,000, driving $3,786,000 in local spending

There are 940 events in Phoenix in March with 324 of these expecting 2,500+ attendees each.

The 18 cities were identified using the PredictHQ Event Index: a unique algorithm per city to identify the impact of upcoming events, comparing it to each city’s unique five years of previous event data. The Event Index generates a score out of 20 per week per city, with anything over 15 being notably higher event activity. The index and report is produced by demand intelligence company PredictHQ, which aggregates, verifies and enriches event data that’s then used by companies such as Accor Hotels, Uber and Domino’s Pizza in demand forecasting and planning.

Using an event impact quantification algorithm that identifies impact on accommodation, restaurant and transport businesses, the busiest cities will enjoy demand surges worth more than $700 million.

• The ten largest events in Las Vegas during its event impact peak of March 12 – 19 will generate $384.4 million for local businesses.
• The ten largest events in Tampa during its event impact peak of March 5 – 19 will generate $144.1 million for local businesses.
• The ten largest events in Phoenix during its event impact peak of March 5 – 19 will generate $93.7 million for local businesses.
• The ten largest events in Jacksonville during its event impact peak of March 12 – 19 will generate $65.1 million for local businesses.
• The ten largest events in Tulsa during its event impact peak of March 5 – 12 will generate $13.9 million for local businesses.
• Download the full list of peak weeks for the 18 cities in the report

With more than 6,050 events with 2,500+ attendees taking place in the United States in March, businesses can tap into the people movement and billions of dollars in demand that these events drive. This is especially true for the cities experiencing unusually high people movement that can be tapped into to drive demand. The cities with the highest peaks are detailed in this new report.

“While the cities that are most impacted by events change each month, the playbook for event-aware businesses doesn’t. Understanding what catalyzes demand, and exactly when and where it’ll take place, enables businesses to better prepare their staffing, pricing and inventory,” PredictHQ CEO Campbell Brown says. “For the first time, we’re also able to share the predicted spend impact also, so businesses know how much additional revenue is available if they prepare well.”

PredictHQ tracks 19 categories of events globally, including expos, concerts and sports. PredictHQ also tracks also non-attendance-based events such as school holidays and college dates, as well as unscheduled events such as severe weather incidents. This breadth of event coverage is critical for the Event Index, as the peak weeks are caused by many overlapping large and mid-size events.

While the Event Index provides an accurate look ahead at people movement, it is designed to be a simple entry-point to the demand intelligence PredictHQ offers. Industry leading companies in on-demand, accommodation, QSR and transportation use PredictHQ’s verified and enriched event data to inform staffing decisions, pricing, inventory and marketing strategies.