Detroit. Driving 125 years of Economic Growth from Tourism and Meetings 

125 years ago, newspaper journalist Milton J. Carmichael shared with readers an idea for local businessmen to band together to promote Detroit as a convention location.  As a result, the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau was born and starting in 1896 began a long run of welcoming conventions to the region that continues today.  

As we celebrate the DMCVB’s 125th anniversary in 2021, we look back on our success as the FIRST convention bureau that has been directly responsible for bringing millions of visitors to Metro Detroit and for generating millions of new dollars for businesses in the region. Along the way, we have added leisure visitors and sports to our sales and marketing activities and have promoted Detroit to a worldwide audience. From the day of the Bureau’s founding, supporting the local economy has been our mission and always will be. 

The DMCVB has been fortunate enough to attract thousands of marquee conventions and sporting events in its 125 years. The list is long and represents every industry. It includes marquee events such as the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the NAACP, the National Baptist Convention USA, the Black MBA, the Detroit Grand Prix, the World Cup of Soccer, Republican National Convention, the Super Bowl (twice), the NCAA regional tournaments and the NCAA Final Four. This is just a snapshot of the many, many conventions and events hosted in the region.   

As we move forward to the next 125 years, the DMCVB intends to continue to showcase metro Detroit as vibrant and worthy region to host leisure tourism, conventions and sporting events of all sizes. With the region earning the reputation of America’s comeback city, the next 125 years will be exciting to witness.