Photo courtesy Extreme Air Shots

The 25th annual South by Southwest conference, trade show and festival brought more than $167.8 million to the Austin economy and saw a 45 percent increase in attendance to 286,000—the biggest overall year-to-year jump since the festival began—according to the economic impact study released Aug. 23.

"Festivals are popping up throughout the country, but SXSW is maintaining its status as a preeminent venue for the film, music and interaction industry," said Ben Loftsgaarden with Greyhill Advisors, a firm SXSW commissioned to conduct the economic impact study.

The three main events associated with SXSW—Music, Film and Interactive—all saw growth, but Interactive saw the most with a 65 percent increase in overall attendance.

SXSW reached its $100 million economic impact target in 2007, Mayor Lee Leffingwell said, and it continues to grow in its global breadth and put Austin in the spotlight.

"It is not just the economic impact that we are talking about; it is the cultural appeal of the City of Austin that makes us who we are and spins off in so many areas that it is impossible to measure the effect Austin's cultural presence has on attracting good, quality companies and people to the city," he said.

The hospitality industry was host to nearly 47,500 room nights, marking a 20 percent increase from the previous year.

Over the course of the two-week event held in March, SXSW was responsible for $111.7 million directly injected into the local economies, which includes revenue associated with local business benefiting from the event, according to the Greyhill study.

The indirect impact—increases in sales, income and jobs associated with companies that benefit from SXSW—was responsible for $31.4 million, and $24.7 million accounts for increased earnings by companies or individuals as a result of the festival.

Since its launch, SXSW has put Austin in the spotlight for hosting one of the world's premier events for not only music and film, but also the rising technology industry. In 2007, the social media website Twitter was launched at the interactive portion of the conference.

Thirty years ago this month, Austin City Council declared the city the live music capital of the world. Now a $1 billion industry with more than 250 live music venues and 50,000 shows annually, Leffingwell said that SXSW has added to the national view of Austin.