While Hot August Nights starts its engine for a week-long classic car show it’s also helping our local economy by bringing in close to $90 million to the Reno Tahoe area. Alan Tom, the Executive Director for Hot August Nights mentions "Every merchant is touched here by Hot August Nights whether it's the local hotels and casinos, the gas stations or convenient stores." Tom says this event is one of the biggest in Northern Nevada.
Bill Martens, a participant in Hot August Nights for 20 years running from Arizona tells us what he likes doing when visiting the Biggest Little City "Well we're spending a lot of money in the casino, and around town, sightseeing go up to Tahoe have a great time."
Tom says he believes about 90% of the people who come to Northern Nevada this week are checking out the car show. He adds "We get roughly close to 400,000 people that's close to our population here in the Reno Sparks area."
They have about 5,500 to 6,000 registered classic cars for Hot August Nights. The owners of those cars usually stay in local hotels for the week so they can be close to the action. Tom explains "They want to see all the different show and shines, the drag races, the swap-meet the free entertainment we have in Reno and Sparks."
Tom also says people come from all over the United States including 3 other countries. He adds "Reno Tahoe Area is known for its events and without events there's a lot of lulls in this area so what's the best way to bring people here is to have great event like Hot August Nights."
