IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Ontario must love the Route 66 Crusin’ Reunion.
The three-day gathering along part of Euclid Avenue attracted more than 212,000 people and pumped an estimated $23.3 million into the local economy, according to the Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau, the event’s sponsor.
Despite temperatures above 100 degrees and competition from the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona, the Cruisin’ Reunion – a combined tribute to Route 66 and America’s love affair with the automobile – topped last year’s attendance by more than 12,000 people, the convention & visitors bureau said.
More than half of the attendance was recorded on Saturday, and upwards of 1,100 classic automobiles participated in the 2015 reunion, a combination of cruising, contests, live entertainment and lots of food.
“We weren’t surprised,” said Sue Oxarart, communications director for the convention & visitors bureau, when asked about the high attendance figure. “We were concerned about the heat, but it didn’t seem to bother people. A lot of them came out in the evening anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.”
This was the third Crusin’ Reunion, and the event is coming into its own as it becomes better known within the community, Oxarart said.
“With something like this during the first year or two, I think you’re learning and trying to figure things out,” Oxarart said. “People are still finding out about it, but now it’s starting to get more established.”
Forty eight percent of those who attended this year were first-time patrons, about 20,000 were from out of state and 41 percent attended for more than one day, according to the convention & visitors bureau.
The gathering can apparently hold its own with the county fair, which attracts more than one million patrons every year.
“The fair is held over four weekends,” Oxarart said. “Not everyone goes to the fair every weekend.”
