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Scrambling for Harley 100th lodging
Harley-Davidson Inc.'s 100th anniversary celebration is 15 months away, but thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts planning the trek to the Milwaukee area already are roaring for rooms.
With only 12,000 to 13,000 hotel rooms in the five-county metropolitan area, accommodations are at a premium because more than 200,000 visitors are expected.
"That's not nearly enough hotel rooms," said Diane Bozicevich, vice president of corporate operations at Omega World Travel's regional headquarters in Greenfield.
Harley-Davidson has contracted with Mega Housing Management, a unit of Fairfax, Va.-based Omega World Travel, to handle hotel, campground and private housing accommodations for the celebration in August 2003.
Mega Housing Management has secured hotel rooms as far north as Green Bay, west to Madison and south to O'Hare International Airport. Mega Housing also has negotiated for campground space at the Waukesha Expo Center and the Washington County Fairgrounds.
Room rates would have been "astronomical" had a third party not become involved in the process and the hotels and motels would have set their own rates, Bozicevich said. Most rooms available through Mega Housing will rent for $55 to $160 a night, Bozicevich said.
Mega Housing was scheduled to open its reservation lines to members of Harley Owners Group, a Harley-sponsored riders club, on June 1. Reservations can be made by going to http://www.hog.com/, a members-only Web site.
"We expect to have most of our current inventory gone by the weekend," Bozicevich said. "But we plan to keep adding to that inventory."
Any remaining rooms will be available to the general public on July 1.
The number of bikers expected to converge on the Milwaukee area in late August 2003 is estimated at anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000.
"We realize this is a huge event," Harley-Davidson spokesman Mike Morgan said. "It will be a challenge."
The Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau has been working to secure blocks of hotel rooms for Mega Housing Management for nearly two years, said Jack Moneypenny, the bureau's vice president of sales.
Moneypenny estimates that more than 90 percent of the hotels in the Milwaukee agreed to block out rooms for a four-night period. These hotels will fill up more quickly than those that chose not to take part in the hope of holding out for higher rates.
"This way the hotels know they are sold out and they are ready to go a year out," Moneypenny said. "We never, ever condone hotels jacking up their prices for an event like this. That's truly price gouging."
In an attempt to spread out the crowds, some events will be held on the grounds of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, the site of another campground.
Events like Harley-Davidson's anniversary party are a boon to area hotel and motel operators, said Kirk Drusch, president of the Greater Milwaukee Hotel & Motel Association.
"I don't see any challenges," he said. "As we always say, it's easier to run a hotel that's full."
Drusch said he expects hotels and motels to be filled that weekend with a mix of Harley-Davidson owners and "bread-and-butter" travelers.
Mega Housing Management is working with Target Sport Adventures, a Boston-based company that helped find accommodations for spectators and participants of the Winter Olympics in Utah earlier this year.
Target Sport Adventures played a part in Harley-Davidson's 95th anniversary in 1998 by setting up a campground in Waukesha known as the Riders Ranch. The site was a commune of sorts for Harley-Davidson riders, complete with electrical hookups for recreational vehicles as well as live entertainment.
Each of the campground sites for next year's event will be designed to accommodate about 25,000 riders, said Ken Cutcliffe, Target Sport's vice president. The company hopes to lease a third campground site within 30 miles of Milwaukee.
In finding housing for motorcycle riders attending the Harley-Davidson festivities, Target Sport Adventures plans to use the same business model it used in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas.
Target Sport representatives are contacting major property managers in the Milwaukee area in an attempt to locate housing for riders. Apartment vacancy rates can range from 5 to 15 percent at any time, Cutcliffe said. The company pays property owners three times the normal rent for the apartment or condominium, a fee Cutcliffe described as "found money" for property owners.
The company also is asking that property owners give new tenants signing lease agreements the option to sublease their apartments in advance to accommodate bikers.
Target Sport Adventures pays about $1,200 to anyone who agrees to sublease a two-bedroom apartment and $300 to the property manager, Cutcliffe said. The fees for a three-bedroom apartment are $1,600 and $400, respectively.
In turn, Target Sport Adventures, through its arrangement with Mega Housing Management, rents out the apartment or condominium units. Rental rates for the apartment and condo units vary but tend to be about $100 to $200 per night per bedroom, depending on the type and quality of the unit, Cutcliffe said.
"Our ideal situation would be a new apartment or condominium complex coming on line in time for us to take over the whole building," he said. In the case of a vacant unit, Target Sport Adventures would provide the furniture.
Target Sport Adventure hopes to line up 5,000 to 10,000 private housing units for Harley-Davidson partygoers.
"We've got quite a few good owners already on board," said Cutcliffe.
Target Sport Adventure has been in business since 1978, performing such tasks as providing bus transportation for those attending the 25th and 30th anniversaries at Woodstock.
The company is insured, fully-bonded and requires a $500 security deposit for housing units that it rents. Cutcliffe vows the company will take action against anyone who damages rental properties.
"You need to make them feel the pain if they start trashing the units," he said.
The biggest problem the company faces will be to convince people planning to attend the event to secure housing this far in advance of the festivities.
"It takes a while to create momentum," he said. "We are trying to put some method to the madness."
As an added incentive, Omega World Travel in Greenfield is offering special travel deals to those taking part in the "lease and leave" program, Cutcliffe said.
A travel show will be held June 26 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Milwaukee, where those willing to give up their homes for a few days can examine the options.
