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Detroit, Michigan

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Why Host a Meeting in Detroit?

COBO Center

With over 30,000 hotel rooms and one of the largest meeting centers in the Midwest, Detroit is a notable location for any meeting or event. The COBO Center, Detroit's premier convention location, offers 2.4 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space, stunning views of the riverfront and a convenient location near the majority of Detroit's most visited attractions. Also nearby are over 30,000 hotel rooms at luxurious properties such as the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, the 2nd tallest hotel in North America with 72 floors and 1,246 guest rooms.

Detroit offers the advantage of affordability, especially when compared to cities of similar size. Numerous incentive programs are available that reduce the costs associated with conducting out-of-town business. Northwest Airlines offers discounted airfare for travelers to Detroit conferences and conventions. The COBO Center also offers discounts for select dates throughout the year.

Fox Theatre

From old to modern, cultural to recreational, venues in Detroit are numerous and varied. The elegant Fox Theatre, the 2nd largest theater in the nation, seats 4,800 people, while the 115-year-old, Romanesque-style Whitney Mansion enchants 10 to 400 guests for receptions or dinners in its historic rooms. Belle Isle Park, the largest island park in the United States, is an unexpected spot of green among the skyscrapers and highways of the city, with numerous event venues such as the Detroit Yacht Club and Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory. Guests can also enjoy the view of the entire city by water on the Detroit Princess, an authentic, five-deck riverboat that cruises the Detroit River. Plus, with options to dine or shop in Windsor, Ontario, situated right across the river, Detroit makes for an unexpected international destination.

Committed to continuing its urban revival that began in the 1990s, Detroit's redevelopment efforts are currently the largest in the nation, as more than $20 billion is being put toward revitalizing and revamping the city. The Detroit Metro Airport recently underwent a major expansion project that included a new terminal and 89-acre parking structure. Major hotel and lodging accommodations continue to expand the city's already-impressive selection. Luxury hotels MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino Hotel opened in 2007, and two more large-scale hotels, the Greektown Casino Hotel and Westin Cadillac, are scheduled to open in 2008.

Several notable corporations can be found in downtown Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, OnStar, EDS, Compuware, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. Metropolitan universities include Wayne State University, Marygrove College and the Lewis College of business.

Key Statistics

Additional Detroit Information / History

Detroit Skyline

Located in the southeast region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Detroit holds the title of the only major city in the contiguous United States found north of the Canadian border. Sitting along the Detroit River, this 143-square-mile city is visited by 15.9 million people each year.

Founded in 1701 as a military settlement for the French, Detroit flourished in the 19th century as its waterfront location made it a hub for shipbuilding and manufacturing. At the turn of the 20th century, Henry Ford helped further escalate the city's growth by forever transforming it into the epicenter of the American automobile industry. Ford's legacy pervades today, giving Detroit its nickname as Motor City and attractions such as the Henry Ford Museum and the Automotive Hall of Fame.

The explosion of the automobile industry also brought a wealth of jobs, leading to a population boom of more than 600 percent in the first half of the 20th century. Today nearly one million people reside in the city's borders, and more than four million live within the greater Detroit metropolitan area. Among U.S. cities where African Americans are in the majority, Detroit ranks at the top with 80 percent of its population being black. Considered an important center for black culture and heritage, Detroit serves as home to the Second Baptist Church of Detroit, the oldest African American church in the Midwest, and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, the largest museum of its kind in the world. Detroit is also the birthplace of Motown music, as Gordy Berry founded Motown Records in the city in 1959, the studio of which is now preserved in the Motown Historical MuseumMotown Historical Museum
Motown Historical Museum.

Detroit Institute of Arts

Though industry has shaped much of what the city is today, Detroit certainly knows how to play just as hard as it works. Enjoy over 10 table game varieties and more than 4,000 slots at the newly opened MGM Grand Detroit Casino. Browse among 100 galleries at the Detroit Institute of Art, which houses Vincent van Gogh's Self Portrait, the first Van Gogh painting on public display in the United States. Cheer on the NBA's Detroit Pistons, MLB's Tigers, NFL's Lions or NHL's Red Wings, as all four teams play for Detroit, one of only 13 cities in the nation to be home to professional teams representing four sports. A Tigers or Lions game can be enjoyed from the comfort of each team's new stadium, the 41,000-seat Comerica Park and 78,000-seat Ford Field. As a Midwest oasis to business travelers and pleasure seekers alike, Detroit's picturesque waterfront skyline houses a vibrant and diverse mix of attractions sure to entice any visitor.