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Special Edition 10
December 10, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 10
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Issue 9
November 26, 2002
Vol. 1
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Issue 8
October 29, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 8
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Issue 7
October 2, 2002
Vol. 1
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Issue 6
September 5, 2002
Vol. 1
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Special Edition 5
August 16, 2002
Vol. 1
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Issue 4
July 29, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 4
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Issue 3
June 28, 2002
Vol. 1
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Issue 2
May 23, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 2
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Introductory Issue
April 17, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 1
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Visitor Profiles of the 2002 Woodward Dream Cruise
By Teresa I. Herbowicz, Research & Outreach Specialist, MSU Tourism Resource Center
 Did you know that Michigan’s Oakland County is host to the world’s largest one-day celebration of cars from the Fifties and Sixties, as well as other customized and unique vehicles? Every summer “The Woodward Dream Cruise” is held along a historic 16-mile stretch of road known as Woodward Avenue, located on the northwest side of Detroit. You can learn more about this event at www.woodwarddreamcruise.com/2002.
This nationally known cruising event has been held in mid-August for the past eight years, and the communities along the avenue prepare an array of events for car fans, music lovers and families. What’s even more note-worthy is that the proceeds from the event support more than 30 local charities!
As one can imagine, preparing such an event requires a lot of effort from local governments, businesses and resident-volunteers. To make sure that the efforts are directed where visitors would most appreciate them, the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau (DMCVB, www.visitdetroit.com), with the approval of the communities along Woodward Avenue, contracted with the Tourism Resource Center at Michigan State University to conduct a short, on-site Dream Cruise visitor survey in 2002.
This study was focused on visitors living outside Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. The purpose of the study was to gain some insight into: 1) the characteristics of Dream Cruise non-local visitors, 2) their evaluation of the event and their visit to the Detroit metro area, 3) their primary travel purpose, 4) the activities they participated in while visiting the area, 5) the types of lodging and transportation they used, etc.
Visitors who lived within the tri-county area were not interviewed, but they were tallied and their zip codes were recorded. This information allowed for estimating the relative proportions of local and non-local visitors in the total Dream Cruise 2002 participant population.
GENERAL FINDINGS
- Thirty-seven percent of respondents were non-local visitors, with the majority of them coming from nearby Michigan counties. Some respondents, however, came from as far as Florida, Arizona and Alaska.
- Most of the non-local respondents (82%) stated that the Dream Cruise was the main reason they had come to the Detroit metro area, and over 70% had attended the event at least once in the past.
- More than one-third of the non-local respondents participated in the event at least three times prior to 2002.
- Over 90% of the non-local respondents were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the 2002 Dream Cruise event, and 92% expressed their intention to attend the Dream Cruise again in the future.
- Even more respondents (nearly 95%) were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their visit to the Detroit metro area.
- About 44% of the non-local visitors also indicated that they would extend their stay in the Detroit metro area for one extra day because of another event, e.g., a music event or festival, a taste fest or an art event.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
- Dining and shopping (43% and 32%, respectively) were the most popular additional activities non-local visitors participated in while they were in the Detroit metro area. At least 13% of the non-local visitors also visited a casino.
- Sixty-three percent of the non-local respondents stayed overnight in the Detroit metro area.
- Non-local respondents staying overnight, on average spent 4.4 days in the area.
- Forty-eight percent of overnight respondents stayed in a hotel or motel.
- The average party size of non-local respondents was 3.4 persons.
- The Dream Cruise 2002 event was most frequented by middle-aged persons (45 – 54 years being the dominant age group), and those persons constituted 31% of the non-local respondents.
- About 70% of the non-local respondents reported household income above the U.S. median of $42,000.
- The White/Caucasian race or ethnic group was the most common segment of non-local visitors.
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