Hot August Nights, Air Races Boost Reno's Tourism Economy

RENO - Two of Reno's biggest tourism draws combined to post a record impact in excess of $100 million on the local economy this year, a new study estimates.

Hot August Nights and the National Championship Air Races in September combined to spur about $110 million in spending, according to a research firm for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitor's Authority.

The direct impact from Hot August Nights was about $76 million and the Air Races an estimated $34 million, said the study by RRC Associates of Boulder, Colo.

The Reno Gazette-Journal said the two events are believed to rank first and second in terms of special event impacts on the local economy.

Attendance and impact numbers for the Air Races were the best in the event's 36-year history. Attendance totaled 186,421, of which 73,394 fans visited more than one day and 50,642 were visitors.

''I think part of it is our marketing effort. We're spending more money trying to reach more people,'' Bill Eck, chairman of the Reno Air Race Association, told the newspaper.

The research showed 69 percent of the Air Races' attendees were visitors. Local attendance has doubled from its roughly 15-percent mark in the 1970s and '80s, Eck said.

Hot August Nights' total attendance was 127,000, of whom 93,728 were visitors, executive director David Saville said.

Hot August Nights participants had higher household income that typical visitors, with 43 percent reporting $75,000-plus vs. 26 percent for all other events, Saville said.

At hotels, 80 percent of visitors paid more than $76 a night, while 17 percent paid more than $150, he said. In 1995, only 3 percent paid more than $150, he said.

''We're getting a higher demographic and a higher disposable income,'' Saville said. ''If we can bring $76 million into this community in five days, I feel pretty good about that.''