Annual Car Shows an Untapped Resource

The 26th annual Corvettes at Carlisle was a huge success this year and was held on the weekend of August 28th.  Corvette and GM execs were present at the fairgrounds for the event.  Carlisle Events hosted its first Corvettes at Carlisle Auction this past weekend. The inaugural event featured 84 Corvettes of all eras and models and brought $1 million in sales.  The  “Go Red For Women” campaign, a nationwide movement to raise awareness of heart disease as women’s No. 1 killer was part of the event. A donation was collected from those who participated in the gathering to help support the awareness campaign. All red Corvettes were parked in a specially designated area on the show field.

    Carlisle Events, host of 10 collector car, truck and motorcycle events each year, attracts more than half a million people to its 82-acre fairgrounds in Carlisle, Pennsylvania each year. Included in the annual schedule are two huge automotive swap meets – in the spring and fall – and individual specialty shows featuring Corvettes, Fords, GMs, Chryslers, trucks, motorcycles, sport compacts and imports. Founded in 1974 by friends Bill Miller and Chip Miller, the “Cars at Carlisle” shows attract automotive enthusiasts from around the world.

            The events at the fairgrounds have grown to attract over nearly one million people a year to Carlisle and have grown in popularity around the world.  With a constant flow of thousands and thousands of car enthusiasts coming to down, why does the downtown area see only a few of these people?  Business is not at an all time high during the shows.  In fact, business in the downtown area is barely effected at all.  With a downtown full of history, why do tourists in Carlisle never find their way into the downtown area?  Are the Car Shows an untapped resource in supporting the growth of the downtown economy? If so, how can Carlisle Events become directly involved with supporting the downtown businesses?

G.M.

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