Detroit may be best known for automobiles and Motown music but the city should get a boost as a meeting place later this year when the National Tour Association comes to Cobo Center.
The city now has a variety of new attractions to lure meetings and conventions, including Campus Martius Park, a 1.6-acre park in downtown that represents an urban gathering place for residents and visitors. The park includes eating areas and a stage. In the winter, there’s ice skating.
A $500 million transformation of the Detroit riverfront is also underway. A network of parks there will enhance the area to include a new cruise ship harbor, as well as new retail.
Recently-opened hotels in the metro Detroit area include a Hilton Garden Inn, The Westin and the Royal Park Hotel.
One new attraction is also the Ford Rouge Factory Tours. The tours show the behind-the-scenes assembly of an F-150 pickup truck.
Detroit and nearby Windsor, across the Detroit River, have also been promoting the “Two-Nation Vacation.”
In addition, more than 20 new restaurants have opened in metro Detroit in the past two years, according to the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Report by David Wilkening
