Metro Detroit is seeing promising signs the travel industry is starting to come back, the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau said Monday.
Hotel occupancy has more than doubled for this week year over year, and the DMCVB has booked several new meetings and conferences for 2022 and beyond, said Renee Monforton, vice president of marketing and communications during a press conference for Michigan's National Travel and Tourism Week, held at The Henry Ford Monday morning.
Occupancy at Detroit metro area hotels this week is 58 percent, up from 23 percent the same week one year ago, Monforton said.
"Hotel occupancy has been slowly growing each month, and as we get closer to summer, it will keep growing because of all the special events coming back," Monforton said.
The increased hotel occupancy rates are coming through a combination of tourism and business travel. People are seeking local and regional getaways and increasingly venturing out for leisure, she said.
"And we're starting to see individual business meetings happening, again, done very safely."
The hospitality industry took a huge hit in the global health and economic crisis that halted travel and put the brakes on conventions and other business gatherings, dimming or muting revenue streams for the tens of thousands of hotel rooms across Metro Detroit.
In Septmber, Crain's reported that some of the region's most prominent hotels had fallen behind on debt and some hotel building projects were delayed or put on hold as the industry struggled to regain lost ground.
Before COVID, Metro Detroit saw about 19 million visitors each year, Monforton said.
Some small events hosted by individual hotel and some sporting events are coming back this year, but none of the big meetings the DMCVB booked are coming back this year.
But in a promising sign of life in the convention/conference sector, events such as the FIRST Robotic competition and the National Women's Forum that canceled plans in Detroit for 2020-21 are rebooking those events for future dates.
And in the last few weeks, the DMCVB has booked four or five new conventions/conferences for 2022 and beyond, Monforton said. She declined to share the specific events until host organizations have announced them internally.
Those events are expected to draw a total of about 40,000 people and yield $41 million in direct spending, she said.
"We are really excited. Our sales team for a long time had to wait it out, and all of a sudden, business is starting to come back."
To give local tourism another boost, the DMCVB on Monday launched its 2021 Detroit Experience Packages to provide day and overnight activities to people looking for a getaway.
For example, the "Landmarks and Luxury" package comes with an overnight stay at The Henry in Dearborn combined with a visit to The Henry Ford.
The "Bike Local" package presented by the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester provides an opportunity to explore more than 50 miles of trails and includes the use of two cruisers or mountain bikes during the stay.
"Detroit Dog City" packages includes an overnight stay at the Element Hotel in Downtown Detroit and VIP treatment for visitors' dogs, such as the use of a Westin Heavenly Dog bed and a branded bandanna, while the Shinola Hotel downtown is offering a health and wellness package in partnership with Citizen Yoga.
Day packages include tours of Detroit for shoppers, foodies or history buffs; private group bicycle tours and glass blowing experiences.
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Early signs point to travel industry rebound in metro Detroit - Crain's Detroit Business
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