Detroit plays to win

Nearly 100 new meetings and sporting events worth more than $200m in direct spending are planned in metropolitan Detroit this year and beyond, the city’s CVB Visit Detroit said as it unveiled a new national marketing campaign, 8 February. Meetings, conventions and sporting events are big business for the region, and of course represent an industry that has suffered through the Covid pandemic. Tourism and hospitality employment prior to the pandemic contributed 463,000 direct jobs to the metro Detroit economy. Claude Molinari, Visit Detroit president and CEO, said the new Detroit Wins campaign is a way of letting other meeting planners and sporting events organisers know that the city and region are open for business and that organisers of other marquee events have shown their confidence by committing to bring their events. The campaign is also intended to encourage local residents and businesses to consider hosting their events in the region. “In this next year, we will welcome a huge volume of high-profile conventions and sporting events, generating about 115,000 room nights. Two of those events — the American Bus Association and CONNECT — have the potential to bring several more future events because their attendees organise and plan events,” Molinari noted. Among other meetings on the books are the Automate Conference, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Michigan Elite Volleyball Academy, National Science Teaching Association, International Women’s Forum, Women of Color STEM Conference, United States Bowling Congress, Michigan Pharmacists Association, Special Olympics and more. Detroit has also reported gaining traction as a popular cruise ship stop on the Great Lakes and is scheduled to welcome 42 port arrivals in 2022, including Viking Cruise Lines.