INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Tourism industry officials say the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 later has generated demand for hotel rooms not seen since the 2012 Super Bowl.

Officials at tourism promoter Visit Indy say the 33,000-room metropolitan market has been a “virtual sellout” since March 15. That’s eight weeks earlier than it has for any May in the recent past.

Visit Indy Vice President Chris Gahl tells the Indianapolis Business Journal that many downtown hotels are commanding rates 30 percent to 40 percent higher than a year ago in May.

CEO Jim Dora Jr. of General Hotels Corp., which has 781 hotel rooms in the area, says his downtown and airport hotels have been sold out for more than two months.