(upbeat music) - So, Claude, we recently, or somewhat recently changed the name of your organization to Visit Detroit.

It's an appropriate phrase, I guess, to use to describe the NFL draft, but I don't think we quite imagined that everybody would respond at once, "Come visit Detroit" on the same weekend.

I mean, the number of people that we're talking about here who are gonna be interested in this, who are gonna be coming to our city, I can't imagine something else quite like it.

- Yeah, I don't think that there's ever been an event like the NFL draft, where 300,000 people descend upon your city in such a huge amount of people and mass over three days.

It's really gonna be something incredible.

And, you know, I think though it continues to show that narrative of Detroit changing because last year was the most visitors we've ever had, in 2023.

2024 is gonna be boosted by this huge NFL draft and all the other great events we have coming.

It's an amazing time for our region.

- Yeah.

So I didn't know that 2023 was the most visitors we'd had.

What was the reason for that?

- I think a lot of it was to do with all the events that we had as well as the Lions were so successful, and, frankly, there's a lot going on here.

And the perception, the perception of Detroit and Southeast Michigan and the state of Michigan is changing for the better.

And people are starting to realize that this is a great place to visit and to live and to invest in.

- Yeah.

- What to add to Claude's point though, people are so amazed and surprised at the fantastic city that we call Detroit.

I mean, I had the privilege of co-chairing the International Women's Forum annual conference, which was here in Detroit in partnership with my colleague, Mary Kramer.

We had 700 women that came from all over the world to visit Detroit from 20 countries, most of whom had never been to the city.

- Yeah.

- So there was a lot of, there was, you know, I won't say trepidation, but there wasn't a lot of understanding of the assets of Detroit and what it was all about.

And I have to tell you, they were just beyond blown away.

It was fabulous.

And, you know, many of whom spoke about just coming back to visit, bringing their family.

So it was just amazing.

And we had the privilege of working with Visit Detroit to coordinate that conference.

- So Faye, you've been involved with all of this for a long time.

You know, we think about the Riverfront now as just another part of Downtown Detroit, and it's getting us all kinds of praise and recognition.

And we're now, I think, 20 years into that effort.

I'm not sure everyone knows that you're the person who built that, or you were the first.

You were the first one to lead the Riverfront Conservancy.

- Yeah, no, that's very kind of you.

It was a privilege and an honor.

I was with the Riverfront Conservancy as their inaugural president and CEO for 10 years, a little bit over 10 years.

But it was an amazing experience to be able to really lead in partnership with our public and private partners the development of a place and space that no one ever thought would have any chance of being renovated or restored.

So it was a great honor and a wonderful opportunity.

- Yeah.

And so much of what we're talking about now in terms of Detroit and the progress in places like Downtown, it keys off of that riverfront.

I mean, if you think about what it was before, this really inaccessible, dirty place, and what it is now, which is a gathering place, that attraction of people is the thing that fuels the idea that, okay, well, what else can I do Downtown?

- Oh, for sure.

- Or are there other things?

- Oh, it was such pride.

I mean, there have been so many folks that visit the waterfront, family reunions, business meetings, you know, and people are still shocked that, "Oh, my gosh, right across the water, that's Canada, that's another country."

But it's wonderful.

And the team that's developing now, continue to develop the waterfront has just done a fantastic job.

- People ask us sometimes, like, "Do you dye this water?

This can't be this blue."

- I said, "It's pure Michigan babe, what are you talking about?"

(Stephen laughs) They think this is, like, the Caribbean water.

It's, like, so amazing.

- Like real fresh water.

- But I think the most important point from, you know, thinking about or reflecting on the development of the waterfront is what it has done as it relates to the coming together of community.

The public, the private sector working in partnership with organizations like Visit Detroit, the broad-based community.

It's a wonderful story to tell.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So, Claude, let's talk about logistics with the draft.

300,000 people, that's almost half the population of the city.

Although the mayor might yell at me if he heard me say that 'cause he probably thinks there's more people, but it's still a lot of people.

How's that gonna work?

- So the draft is set up so that Hart Plaza, Woodward Avenue and then Campus Martius and Cadillac Square will be the main draft area.

But we're gonna have satellite locations throughout the Downtown.

Grand Circus Park, Capitol Park, Beacon Park, Harmonie Park, all of these are going to be set up with remote areas that's gonna have video screens and audio.

So as it spreads out and expands and as the fans, you know, basically flood the entire city, we're still going to have a great experience for everybody.

And again, Corktown is gonna be very vital to this, Greektown is gonna be very vital, Monroe Street is gonna have activations and video screens.

So while a worldwide audience of maybe 60 to 70 million people are gonna be watching, they're gonna see an incredibly vibrant, exciting Downtown loaded with people from all over the world enjoying all the amazing things that go on in the city of Detroit.

And we're gonna be so excited to host them.

- Yeah.

So when you're selling something like this though, to the NFL, I mean, they would have real questions, I would think, about, okay, hotels, freeway access, restaurants, things like that.

Was it hard to sell this?

- It really wasn't.

You know, it's funny how that that came through.

You know, the National Football League has less of a concern about having an incredible amount of hotel rooms in the right Downtown core.

Like, meetings and conventions, they recognize that they need to have, you know, 5 or 6,000 rooms specifically within walking distance of the convention center.

That gives us a hard time.

But really very few cities can support all of the hotel rooms that are gonna be needed Downtown.

So there's gonna be compression, which is, frankly, the great news for us because we have 45,000 hotel rooms just within Oakland, Wayne and McComb County.

So the best part is now that the Downtown Detroit hotel rooms will be sold out, that'll just spread it out throughout the Downtown core and then into the suburbs.

And we expect that Macomb County, Oakland County, they're gonna be flooded with attendees as well.

- Yeah, yeah.

Faye, when you think about all of the different kind of pieces that you got to put together for something like this, and you have private sector, you have businesses that are developing Downtown, think of how different it is than it would've been for us, say, 20 years ago, when we had the Super Bowl here.

And we had to do different things, right, to get ready for that.

It was a different city.

And we had to dress ourselves up, I guess, it felt like when that happened.

It's a different thing now.

And there are more people, I feel like, at the table, ready to help in a different way than they had to.

But it's progress in really dramatic ways.

- Oh, I agree.

I can remember when the Super Bowl came to town.

And it was, you know, it was good.

There were people from the suburbs that were marveling at being Downtown for the very first time in about 10, 20 years, you know, so.

But, you know, the vibe is so different now.

There's so much pride in Detroit and where it is now and directionally where its headed.

So we're just such a prideful community.

And it's just, I think to Claude's point, you know, the draft, you know, everybody is winning.

And so just the number of folks that we anticipate coming to town, our focus on not only the community, not only, well, community in terms of posting Downtown, but also our focus on community.

Not only on where this event will land and when it will take place but after the event and what we are working on in order to support our children and families.

- Yeah, yeah.

This Living Legacy part of this, which focuses on literacy, is that right?

- Well, it focuses on literacy and active play.

We are just so grateful for the philanthropic community and the $1 million that has been directed to our launch of this Living Legacy program in coordination with the launch of the draft, but, you know, the key part of this legacy program is that it goes beyond the draft.

So the focus is on literacy.

We're so pleased to work with Alycia Meriweather as she has identified, and we're supporting two schools, Dixon Middle School, which is a pipeline to Cody High School and the Detroit Lions Academy.

So that's one piece.

And then the other piece is active play.

So important to encourage our children to get out- - Go outside.

- and outside and play, right?

- Be active.

- So yeah.

And partnership with, of course, the Detroit Sports Commission.

We are partnering with Project Play, which is a collaboration between the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, the Wilson Foundation and also the Aspen Institute of Sports.

So two major initiatives that we look to continue funding and supporting beyond the draft.

You know, as a board member of the Detroit Sports Commission, it's with privilege and pride that, you know, you know, we have made the commitment with every major sporting event that we're able to attract to the city of Detroit, there'll be a community engagement, a component which will support that education and that play for our community.

- Yeah.

I hope a lot of kids come out to see the draft too.

- We think they will.

- I think that'll be really cool.

- Well, real quick, there's a series of play and sporting activities that are being planned.

It launches in the beginning of April.

But a whole bunch of activities are scheduled draft week, and the majority of which are going to be at the- - Corner Ballpark.

- Corner Ballpark.

- Oh, there you go.

- Yeah, we're calling it, we're calling it Youth Central.

So there's gonna be so many activities for children and families located in that area, so we're excited.

- Huge flag football tournament that's gonna bring teams from all over the country.

- Oh, very cool.

- Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

- So, Claude, your job is to sell Detroit all over the place, and you're pretty new in the role still.

Tell me where we are and stuff that we need to still do, gaps we still need to work on filling to make this as attractive a place as we can.

- Yeah, I think that we've done a really, I think, we've been very deliberate in that we've brought in, every year we've brought in large meeting-planner events.

You know, one year we brought in 1,200 meeting planners from Connect Partnership.

The next year we brought in 500 meeting planners from the Scientific Association community.

This summer we're gonna be hosting 1,200 people from Professional Conference Meeting Association so that we're introducing, reintroducing Detroit as a meetings, convention and trade show destination.

That's really been, I think, a great opportunity for us to showcase the things that we now have in play.

Again, all the new hotel rooms, that's putting us on a different level.

We're not where we need to be, but we're getting closer.

And with the work that we're doing on the hotel that's gonna be attached to the convention center, I hope that's gonna be breaking ground in early spring.

And then we'll be in a much better position.

From the leisure travel side, we're seeing huge gains in that.

We've done a lot of overtures out in Europe.

We've worked hard with our French and UK partners to drive that narrative, that Detroit is a great place to come to.

And we're seeing the fruits of those endeavors as well.

And so as people are starting to travel more and get back into it, Detroit is gonna be a very strong destination, we feel, moving forward, and we're seeing the benefits of that.

And the best part is our hotel partners are seeing the best part of that, which means it drives more development.

And then we start to see even more hotels.

And it's a virtuous circle.

The more people come, the more money there is in tourism, which means there's more development, more marketing, and it starts to improve.

- So I mean, obviously we need the hotels and the hotel space.

Are there other things that go along with that that we should be thinking about?

- Oh, enormous things.

I mean, you know, again, when people come to visit, they may say, "Oh, all right, I like your stadium," or, "I like your room, but where am I gonna eat?

Where am I gonna sleep?

Where am I gonna party?

Where am I gonna shop?

Where am I gonna get my sports?"

So all the things that you can do, I mean, even, like, our airports, the fact that, you know, we have the number one mega airport in North America led by Chad Newton and his team, they've done a, that's an incredible advantage for us.

The fact that Turkish Airlines and Iceland Air are now running nonstops, like.

Because that's two way, yeah, our people are visiting them, but now people are coming to visit us.

And I think that all the attractions, the Ford Piquette Plant, where we're talking from, this is a huge benefit to our region.

All of the various attractions, that drives people to come here.

- And once they're here, we can tell our story.

It's not only this wonderful waterfront, but think about all the amazing assets that are located right in Detroit, our museums, you know, our history in the music space.

I mean, there's so much that we have to offer, our restaurants, our hotels, our hospitality as Detroiters.

Once we get them there, we can tell our story, and that's what's exciting.

And I think that's what, among other things, the draft will provide us with the opportunity to do so.

- And you talked about, like, the International Women's Forum, and there was a slight bit of trepidation, but so often we always say if we can get them here, we'll get them here.

All we have to do is introduce people, and once they see it, they're like, "Oh, my gosh, I wish I would've known better.

- Absolutely.

- I come with a better sense now," and they're really starting to see it.

And that's why we're getting to win these big events and these big meetings and conventions because people are starting to change that perception.

- Yep.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, I watched the draft in Kansas City last year 'cause I knew it was coming here, and I saw how many people were there, and I kept thinking, "How are we gonna do that in Detroit?"

But I also heard that, you know, Kansas City's isolated in the country.

It's hard to drive there from other NFL cities, but here, you can get here in, like, five or six hours from a bunch of different NFL cities.

So, I mean, I'm a little, I'm a little, like, trepidacious about- - You're nervous.

- It's gonna be too many people, like, how are we gonna do this?

- It's gonna be a lot.

- We have six NFL cities within just a four-hour driving distance of Detroit.

- My goodness.

- Plus, like, Minnesota and Green Bay, their fans visit a lot because we play them every year in Detroit.

- Because they're in our league, in our comfort.

- So we're anticipating a huge amount of people, but that's gonna be great because, you know, we're gonna have three Tigers games to entertain them with during that timeframe.

- [Stephen] Wait, so there are Tiger games during the draft?

- Yes.

Yes.

On the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

- So more people?

- And then you've also- - It's gonna be okay.

It's gonna be okay.

- All right, whatever.

Maybe I just need to leave town that weekend.

- No, we're gonna need you to be an ambassador.

You got to get on the team.

We're gonna be very ready.

And I think that, you know, Mayor Duggan and the leadership, Warren Evans, Wayne County executive, they've done an incredible job of being very present in all the discussions about this and the plannings and the way we're gonna be able to park people and get them around the city and the people mover now being free, that's a huge benefit.

So we're seeing a lot, a lot of infrastructure work that's gonna make this, I mean, the next perfect event will be the first one.

So it won't be seamless, but I can tell you this, whatever challenges we deal with, it won't be because we hadn't been planning hard enough or we hadn't looked at all the different scenarios.

- Or we're not ready.

- So I'm excited about it, and I think that we're ready.

I mean, we are gonna be ready.

- So what's next after we get through this?

- You know, somebody was asking me that last week, and we have over 60 RFPs out right now.

- Dude, really?

- So, like, from the NBA Allstar game to the NHL Allstar game, to the Big 10 Football Championship, to the International Association of you don't really care, but they're gonna fill up every hotel in the region.

So we've got, you know, like, so many of these different events on the schedule, and we're bidding on and hopefully that we're gonna be able to acquire them.

- Yeah.

Thanks to both of you for all of your work.

And thanks for being with us on One Detroit.

- Thank you so, - Thank you so much.

- [Claude] thank you.