Mike Ferreira, founder and CEO of Meetings Made Easy, didn’t move from Las Vegas to the Detroit area because he sensed a growing tide within the events industry. But it didn’t take long to realize that the Motor City is beyond a comeback stage. The city is thriving and Ferreira is already circling when it will officially boom.
Twenty twenty-seven “is the big year,” says Ferreira.
While the acclaimed meetings broker may not be able to see the future, there’s good reason to believe the prediction will come true.
Projects In the Works
Four significant hotel additions will debut in Detroit in 2027, including a new JW Marriott on the site of the former Joe Louis Arena that will be connected to the Huntington Place Convention Center via a skybridge. The 600-room property not only increases the quantity of guest space for planners, but also the quality. Notably, it will be the first hotel directly linked to the 2.4 million-square-foot convention center.
“This waterfront development reflects the accelerating strength of Detroit to attract premier meetings and conventions,” says Claude Molinari, Chairperson of The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority and president and CEO of Visit Detroit.
Three other properties scheduled for completion in 2027 are a Thompson Hotel, NoMad Hotel, and the Detroit Edition, Detroit’s first five-star hotel and the only midwest location for the luxury lifestyle brand.
The projects align with the arrival of the NCAA’s Men’s Final Four.
“It’s great what we’re doing now, but the future is even brighter,” Ferreira says. “That’s kind of like our shiny Penny moment.”
Spreading the Word
Ferreira is an unofficial ambassador for Detroit. Aside from raising two young children in Grosse Pointe, he and his wife Rochelle (who is from Detroit) launched a DMC to highlight the city’s offerings.
As a relative newcomer to the area but veteran to the industry, Ferreira can see first-hand the amenities Detroit has to offer planners. But he acknowledges that the industry has not caught up with perception quite yet.
“I would have everyone booking Detroit, but that’s a ways away right now,” he says.
Leaning Into Sports
You don’t need to look into the future to see Detroit’s success. Last year, it hosted the 2024 NFL Draft, which generated a staggering $213.6 million in economic impact for the region. The average hotel occupancy during the three-day draft in April was 84%, including a whopping 92% on the first night.
Ferreira notes just how important sports are to Detroit. All of its professional sports teams play within walking distance of each other downtown, and the teams, like the city, are thriving. Building off that, Visit Detroit is the first CVB to sponsor the jersey of a top-flight international soccer team: Juventus.
Juventus has more than 560 million fans across the globe, including 100 million in Europe, a key market for driving travel and tourism to the Detroit region, Visit Detroit noted in the recent announcement.
“Detroit’s trajectory is at an all-time high following a record-setting NFL Draft in 2024, along with being a world-class culinary, music, art, architectural and sports destination,” says Molinari. “There’s never been a better time to visit our region, and this is an incredible platform to elevate our presence across Europe and beyond.”
