With a stay-at-home order and economic shutdowns in many states, including Michigan, tourism revenue is understandably low.
Officials from the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau say the economic impact in our area could be devastating.
“We were going into 2020 looking at an absolutely phenomenal year,” said Larry Alexander.
He is the President and CEO of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The pandemic shut down events and that meant no conventions at the TCF Center. No one playing ball at Comerica Park. No one taking a walk down music memory lane at the Motown Museum.
“Loss revenue, loss wages, people are out of work, lost jobs as a result and the tax revenues that are generated from having people come in is enormous.”
Larry says each year about 19 million visitors come to Metro Detroit.
They believe they’ll only get a fourth of that this year.
With canceled conventions and meetings, the area lost about $180 million dollars.
That doesn’t include tourism dollars or money from sporting events.
“Billions of dollars that have been lost.”
Larry says many of the meetings scheduled this fall are also going virtual, but they are trying to stay positive.
“We are sorry that this is happening but believe me, the hospitality industry will always bounce back.”
Tourism officials believe the revenue will be down next year as well, explaining that many conventions will be preparing to over a hybrid of in-person and virtual events.
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