By David Haldane

Monday, July 5, 2010

The city of Long Beach has lured a major national car event that promises to be bigger than the Long Beach Grand Prix and a bonanza for local merchants and hoteliers.

Hot August Nights, an extravagant weeklong celebration of classic cars and music from the 1950s and ’60s, was parked in Reno, Nev., for nearly 25 years, but will move to downtown Long Beach in summer 2011.

“We took a hard look and came to the conclusion that this city provides a very unique situation,” said Bruce Walter, chief executive of the non-profit of the same name that runs the event, one of the largest of its kind in the country. “We will have the ability to cruise along the Pacific Ocean and use venues throughout the city.”

More than 6,000 classic cars, vintage 1972 or older, are displayed at the show, which includes a car auction, automotive vendors, seminars and concerts. Nightly classic car cruises along public streets are an integral part of the event, as is a large auto parts swap meet.

Last year, the show, which was held July 31 through Aug. 8 and charges no admission, drew more than 800,000, said Walter, who claims it generated $350 million in economic activity in the form of hotel bookings, and food, beverage and merchandise sales.

He believes the potential is even greater in Long Beach, where the show will be staged at the city’s harborside convention center and other venues.

“About 60 percent of our people come from California anyway, and there’s a tremendous car culture in Southern California, which used to be the hot rod capital of the world,” he said.

By comparison, the Long Beach Grand Prix, a three-day IndyCar street race for which spectators must buy tickets, is currently the city’s largest event. The April race draws about 175,000 people and generates an estimated $40 million for local hotels, restaurants and merchants, according to the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Other large local events include the Long Beach Pride weekend, a gay and lesbian parade and festival in May that attracts up to 100,000 people, and the Long Beach Marathon in October, which generally gets about 45,000 spectators and participants.

Hot August Nights was wooed by the Convention and Visitors Bureau, which negotiated a contract on behalf of itself and the city that will keep the event in Long Beach until at least 2016.

“This is a coup for us,” said Steve Goodling, president of the convention bureau, which has estimated the event will fill 32,000 hotel room nights and generate up to $1 million in bed taxes over the life of the contract.

Classic acts

The Reno show is the outgrowth of a nostalgic concert featuring the Righteous Brothers, Wolfman Jack and Jan & Dean – classic acts of the 1950s and ’60s – at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on Aug. 1, 1986. The charity concert was organized to fill a void in tourism during the hot month of August and culminated in a car parade that has since expanded into a premier national attraction.

About two years ago, however, Walter said the event began feeling the squeeze of increasing costs associated with security as it expanded to Sparks, Nev., and involved county authorities. In all, there are three separate jurisdictions and each wants separate police, fire and emergency medical protection, as well as private security and other municipal services. Costs skyrocketed to more than $700,000 per year. In Long Beach, there won’t be a need for many duplicative services.

“We look at the move as a matter of economic survival,” he said. “Our operating costs are horrific and we’ve reached a capacity where, if we’re going to grow, we need to move in this direction.”

After being approached by several cities throughout the country, Walter said, Long Beach was chosen because of the region’s historic connection to the nation’s car culture, the city’s seaside location, and the close proximity of major venues such as the Queen Mary, Shoreline Drive and old Spruce Goose dome.

Long Beach also has four major inns in the downtown area – Hyatt, Westin, Renaissance and Hilton hotels – as well as several midsize and boutique-style hotels. Long Beach Airport lodgings also should fill up, Goodling predicted.

Hot August Nights plans to open a Long Beach office in September. Its 25th anniversary show will be conducted Aug. 3-6, 2011, in Long Beach followed by a similar event in Reno the week after that. Beginning in 2012, Walter said, the annual car show will be held exclusively in Long Beach.

Buddy Pepp, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, said there is no doubt that the event is one of the biggest of its kind in the country.

“This is huge for Long Beach and Southern California,” said Pepp. “To get a hotel or motel within 30 miles of Reno is impossible during Hot August Nights.”