Car Week is nearly upon us. Depending on your point of view, those six words either caused you to jump for joy or throw whatever device you’re reading this in anger.
Erik Chalhoub here, a lifelong fan of cars but not of traffic. Even though I’ve never met a fan of the latter (if that’s you, I’d love to hear your story), I’ve met plenty of the former.
While you may see cars as a fun hobby or a gross display of wealth, the tourism industry sees opportunity.
Today, July 30, See Monterey held its annual media roundtable at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, gathering organizers of the dozens of Car Week events together while sharing the numbers the Aug. 8-17 car-centered celebration brings into Monterey County.
Rob O’Keefe, president and CEO of See Monterey, said Car Week (which is actually more than a week at 10 days) draws in more than 100,000 visitors to Monterey County, primarily the peninsula, across 35-plus official events.
In 2024, visitors spent an estimated $130 million, according to O’Keefe—more than double the amount from 2014, when it was $55 million.
“The visitor spending helps pay the bills,” he said. “The dollars they leave here goes toward quality of life and economic development.”
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the crown jewel event of Car Week, raised more than $41 million in donations to charities since its inception in 1950, including $3.1 million in 2024, according to Gabrielle Garza, director of operations for the event.
O’Keefe said See Monterey encourages visitors to treat the area “like it’s their own backyard, leave no trace,” even buying billboard space in the Bay Area to spread that message.
Despite the efforts, there will always be the irresponsible crowd that shows up, just like any other major event.
After the 2024 Car Week, the City of Carmel surveyed its residents on how they thought it went. Many respondents listed in the 400-plus pages of results hated Car Week or were indifferent.
A resident near the Sunset Center wrote that “our homes, our driveways, our yards, get to be the garbage cans for the public to use. So we get to pick it all up, including the dirty diapers left in the front yard and the people who used our bird bath as a toilet.”
Many others, meanwhile, said they loved Car Week—“A lot of fun, I love sharing our beautiful village with tourists. It's great for business and I love to walk around and look at the cars,” one resident wrote.
Wherever you sit on the Car Week spectrum, we can all be prepared for the tens of thousands of visitors who will soon pour into our county. The County of Monterey provides real-time traffic monitoring on its website and social media. See Monterey includes a website with an interactive map of events and traffic tips for both visitors and residents—so you know when (and when not) to drive.
Also, continue to check the Monterey County Weekly in print and in this newsletter over the coming weeks for an event schedule and more from Car Week.