Detroit Wins: Convention and Visitor’s Bureau CEO on the Reemergence of Tourism
(Crystal A. Proxmire, March 28, 2022)
Harrison Township, MI – When Michiganders think of tourism, it’s easy to picture the beaches and shoreline towns of Traverse City and Grand Haven, the crowds who line up to ride the ferry to Mackinaw Island, or those taking selfies by the big bridge in St. Ignace. But for Detroit Metro Convention and Visitor’s Bureau CEO Claude Molinari the task is to get people thinking of travel differently, and drawing them to the urban and suburban playground of the Motor City.
Molinari recently met with over 150 officials and administrators from throughout Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties at the March 24 general assembly meeting of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) where he spoke about his organization’s efforts to bring sports events, conventions, and tourists to the area.
He shared info about the COVID-19 recovery, new marketing efforts, a few big wins, and what the needs are for the tourism industry that aren’t currently being met.
RECOVERY and MARKETING EFFORTS
Two years ago is when the pandemic began, during which tens of thousands of hospitality and tourism workers lost their jobs. However, Molinari and his team are “changing the narrative” as they look forward, not back.
“The story I’m here to tell you is not one of loss, hardships, or insurmountable challenges. Today the story we should all be telling is of resiliency, recovery, and return to winning.”
The Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is funded through a 2% assessment on hotels and motels of a certain size in the tri-county area, as well as membership dues from the corporate community, private sector, trade and service organizations. They use this money to metro Detroit regionally, nationally and internationally as a convention, business meeting and tourism destination.
Tourism is the fourth largest industry in Michigan, and in spite of those beautiful beach towns, SE Michigan “far and away welcomes more visitors,” he said.
The latest campaign is called “Detroit Wins.”
Molinari said there were two goals of the campaign. The first is to showcase the meetings and sports events that chose the Detroit Area, to encourage others to book theirs as well. Secondly, he said, “We want to serve as an impetus for Detroiters to remember their hometown when associations or other organizations they belong to are looking for a place to host their meetings and events.”
Ads are appearing in New York Times, Washington Post, and online with targeting to Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Chicago. Internationally the Bureau targets Germany and the UK because those countries have residents who love to travel.
“They’ve been to Orlando. They’ve been to New York. They’ve seen Mickey Mouse,” Molinari said. The ads help show them that “Here’s an authentic region of the country.”
The ultimate message is that “SE Michigan is the home of world-class attractions where must-see events happen and where business takes place.”
WINS
Over the past year, the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, along with the Detroit Sports Commission, have booked 118 events including 8 city-wide conventions, including Herbalife.
Molinari is excited about the sporting events that the group has helped attract as well. Just prior to the meeting the NCAA Division1 Wrestling Championships were hosted in the city for the first time since 2007. “Tens of thousands of people came from all over the country,” he said. “Every hotel room was full for the first time since 2019… Walking around the city you could feel the atmosphere.”
Another big win was in Oakland County, where US Golf Association has announced a number of competitions at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, including six championships and two US Opens over the next couple of decades. “This is not just a win for Oakland County, it’s a win for the entire state,” he said.
Molinary also told the officials at the speech that Detroit was being considered to host the 2024 NFL Draft. Today that news became official.
NEEDS
There are two challenges that the organization is giving top priority. The first is that the Detroit Area needs more hotel rooms to meet the increasing demand. And the second is that a special event fund is in the process of being created, which could be used to loan money to businesses who need help with upfront costs of events.
Addressing those problems will help as Detroit continues to grow as a destination location.
Learn more about Detroit Wins and the Metro Detroit Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at https://visitdetroit.com/wins/. For more about SEMCOG visit https://semcog.org/.