Cruisin’ The Coast shatters records, bringing in $36 million. What’s in store for 2022?
The 25th Cruisin’ The Coast was a record breaking year in 2021, with an economic impact to the state of $36.1 million.
Of that number, $33.1 million of the impact stayed on the Coast, Greg Bradley announced Thursday at the Biloxi Visitors Center. His company, Bradley Research Group, has done these economic impact studies since before Hurricane Katrina. The impact for the Coast is up 27% since the last study in 2016 showed $28.6 million impact, and has more than doubled since the $15 million impact in 2004.
Those numbers are just from out of town visitors, he said. The money spent by local registered vehicle owners and spectators isn’t included in the study.
Anyone who was in Biloxi, Gulfport or the other cities in South Mississippi for Cruisin’ the Coast 2021 probably already knows it was largest event in the history of the antique and classic car show, Bradley said.
“I knew it even before we started collecting data,” he said. Car owners started arriving days before the eight-day event began and the 9,469 registered vehicles from 45 states and Canada shattered the previous record by more than 1,000.
Woody Bailey, executive director of Cruisin’ The Coast, said last year’s event was fueled by great weather, a lot of built-up excitement after coronavirus quarantines and the history and mystique of the 25th anniversary.
He attributes the event’s allure to “the chemistry of Highway 90 and the beaches” along with the friendliness of the people of South Mississippi that together draw more people every year.
“We’ve got a great thing going here,” he said.
Biggest event in Mississippi
The level of satisfaction among visitors who attended the event that now is the largest in Mississippi and one of the largest in the Southeast is “exceedingly high,” he said, and 98% of those surveyed rated overall hospitality and overall experience as excellent or good.
They stayed, dined, gambled and shopped on the Coast. Registered vehicle owners spent on average $214 a day on lodging, $474 at restaurants and bars, $250 at the casinos and $201 a day at stores. Spectators spent an average of $140 a day on lodging, with half of them staying at non-casino hotels. They averaged spending $367 a day at restaurants and bars, $293 at the casinos and $152 at stores.
Spectators from outside the area are now providing more of an economic impact that the registered car owners, he said.
“If you look at a national scale, there are not many metropolitan areas of this size that has an event of this magnitude with this type of economic impact within a constrained time of one week,” he said. “Now think about that.”
Cruisin’ The Coast 2022: Jay Leno
Bailey recalls how Cruisin’ The Coast started in 1995 with a group of casino operators wanting to extend the tourism season beyond Labor Day.
“We wanted to do something that would have a significant economic impact,” he said. They started in Biloxi with 374 cars and a weekend event the first year and have added more days, more events, cities and entertainment over the 25 years.
Organizers and casinos are already preparing for this year’s event.
The Beach Boys will be back Oct. 6 and 7 to bring their brand of “Fun, Fun, Fun” to the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi.
Comedian Jay Leno — the ultimate fan of classic cars — is confirmed to take the stage at the Beau Rivage Oct. 8 to take part in Cruisin’ The Coast, one of the largest and most popular car shows in the country. Leno had 180 cars in his collection last year and continues to buy, sell and restore cars. He also shares his passion for cars on Jay Leno’s Garage.
What about gas prices in Mississippi?
Cruisin’ The Coast 2022 is scheduled for Oct. 2-9 and gas prices likely will remain at record highs.
Bradley, though, said he doesn’t expect the cost to keep many people away in 2022.
All those extra cars and people near the beach does cause traffic headaches for locals trying to get to work and requires extra policing.
Gulfport Ward 7 Councilman Richard Kosloski asked how much the cities and counties have to pay to clean the beaches and for other expenses.
The county doesn’t hire any additional workers to clean the beach, said Harrison County Supervisor Beverly Martin. The Sand Beach Authority workers who help on the final day of the event get comp time rather than overtime.
Harrison County contributes $10,000 to the event, she said, and collects $9,600 by renting spots for RVs and trailers at the County Fairground.
The expenses to cities and counties should be more than covered by the additional $2.4 million in local sales generated by Cruisin’ The Coast each year, she said,
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 10:39 AM.
