The financial forecast for Monday's total solar eclipse is sunny — even if the weather may not cooperate.
With millions of people expected to travel for a prime view of the celestial show, a Texas-based research and analysis company expects them to help pump nearly $6 billion into the U.S. economy.
Across the country, direct spending tied to the eclipse is pegged at nearly $1.6 billion, with most of it expected in 12 states that lie under the path of the eclipse, according to the Perryman Group.
But when "downstream/multiplier effects through the economy are considered, expected economic impacts rise to $6 billion, with a gain of $3 billion in gross product and $1.8 billion in personal income flowing to US residents," the company wrote in a report last month.
In addition to the cost of getting somewhere that will experience "totality" — with the sun completely blocked by the moon — eclipse enthusiasts are expected to splurge on everything from protective eyewear and souvenirs to lodging and meals.
The general manager of the Jay Peak Resort in Jay, Vermont, told CBS MoneyWatch that first room reserved for the eclipse was booked four years ago by a visitor who told him, "The hype is real."
The resort expects to rake in as much revenue between Friday and Monday as it usually does during the entire month of April, Steve Wright said.
"It has been well advertised that we're at the end of the path of totality and we will have the best look at the eclipse, at over three and a half minutes," Wright said. "The whole community is sold out."
The AirDNA website, which tracks the performance of more than 10 million listings on Airbnb and Vrbo, says occupancy rates for April 7 in cities in the path of totality had surged to 88% as of March 25.
In addition, average daily rental rates rose by 18.4%, "showing the potential for dynamic pricing during special events," according to the site.
More than a dozen local breweries are also getting in on the act with eclipse-themed beers, according to space.com.
They included the aptly named Sun King Brewery in Indianapolis, which created cans of coffee-infused golden ale with a label that commemorates the 3:07 p.m. local time of totality.
"We chose a golden ale to represent the brilliance of the sun," Dave Colt, Sun King's brew master and co-founder, told space.com. "We partnered with a local coffee roaster, Sun Bean, to represent the darkness of the eclipse."
The Perryman Group report says total eclipse-related spending is projected to range from $2.2 million in New Hampshire to nearly $1.4 billion in Texas, where 12 million people live in the path of totality.
Other states expected to reap significant economic benefits include New York, Indiana and Ohio, where total spending is pegged at $732.7 million, $551 million and $522.7 million, respectively.
The report also noted that areas that receive "widespread or national media coverage" could continue to be reap rewards after the eclipse as a result of "future tourism as well as other developmental benefits."
"Our hope is that people traveling to Pennsylvania from other places won't just take this one opportunity to visit us, but will come back again and again," Rick Siger, Pennsylvania's secretary of community and economic development, told local TV station WHP.
In Arkansas, state Department of Finance and Administration spokesperson Scott Hardin was even more optimistic about the long-term impact of the eclipse.
"We always say, if we can simply get someone to Arkansas, we can change their mind," Hardin told local TV station KFSM. "One of the most exciting things about this entire event is we know there are going to be people who touch down and stay."
