Officials prepare for first-time Texas visitors at F1
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Circuit of the Americas officials say they are expecting a full house when they open their doors later this week.
Many of those attending the U.S. Grand Prix will be visiting making their first trip to Central Texas.
"We've sold in over 50 countries and we've sold in every U.S. state,” Steve Sexton with Circuit of the Americas said. “There are a lot of tourists that are going to be coming to Austin, many of which haven't been here before."
Due to the influx of first-time and foreign visitors, city and county services are stepping up their customer service.
Austin's 3-1-1 is preparing for a spike in non-English phone calls, and is also allowing much of its staff to make calls from home.
"We have an expanded interpreter service that works hand in hand with our agents. They handle over 100 different languages," Joe Calabrese with Austin 3-1-1 said.
Law enforcement is also preparing. They've met with State Department officials and are implementing something they're calling tourism policing.
"What we wanted to do with our deputies is to make sure that we educate them on how to react, knowing ahead that we may have individuals that just may be lost," Michael Hemby with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office said. "They may have never been to Austin, but we want to actually welcome them and make sure that they have a good time with this safely and then get home safely."
The U.S. Grand Prix events kick off Friday.