The seventh annual Orlando Harley-Davidson Bike Week, the sister event to Daytona Bike Week, kicked off this past weekend at the company’s Historic Factory Dealership with five concerts from local and national bands and a two-day outdoor festival. Though organizers increased marketing and promotional efforts this year, attendance for the nine-day event’s opening weekend was down about 40 percent from last year, with about 3,000 people stopping by during the two days.
“We had hoped to see 6,000 over the weekend, but the cold and rainy weather on Saturday kept some folks away from our outdoor activities,” said Amanda Blyth, marketing manager at Orlando Harley-Davidson, who noted temperatures on Saturday dipped to the low 50s, about 25 degrees colder than normal for February.
Despite the slow weekend, Blyth is confident the event’s concerts, motorcycle shows and competitions, and other bike-related activities will attract between 10,000 and 15,000 people overall. The company used direct mail, ads in motorcycle trade publications, radio spots on WHTQ-FM and WTKS-FM, and its Web, Facebook, and Twitter pages to promote the event over the past month.
Additionally, Blyth sent out direct-mail pieces in Spanish to Hispanic households in Central Florida’s eight counties for the first time. “We see more and more of our customers are Hispanic, so it just makes sense to reach out to them [directly],” she said.
Blyth also made some logistical changes from last year to attract attendance. There will be 15 local bands—four more than last year—performing at the factory throughout the week, a sale on more than 200 motorcycles, and the inaugural Dyno Drag competitions that will allow attendees to test their bike’s horsepower using a stationary track mounted in a flatbed truck.
Sun State Ford, Budweiser, and Universal Orlando are sponsors.
