Successful Meetings - August 2008 - (Page 46)

Gaming Meetings Betting On Development Casino resorts help Detroit move from manufacturing to a service-based economy By Marc Boisclair For those who’ve not visited asino City C Motor Michigan’s largest city lately, be prepared to put aside the preconceptions and expect a surprise or two. The city’s moribund downtown, long a place to avoid rather than visit, is reawakening with shops, restaurants, hotels, a waterfront entertainment district, and an increasingly busy convention center. Perhaps the troit Downtown De biggest surprise, though, is how commercial gaming is helping feed the renewal. In the past year Detroit has debuted a pair of major casino resorts—the MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino Hotel—bringing with them thousands of new jobs and punctuating the city’s growth from an overwhelmingly manufacturing-based economy to a more healthy $1.335 billion in revenues for 2007. service-oriented path. For many in this ecoBoth MGM Grand and MotorCity opened nomically challenged city, it’s a change their doors during the late 1990s but did so in that’s both welcome and long overdue. temporary quarters and minus guest rooms re-emphasizes the area’s need for a more diverse economy. By adding hotel rooms, meetings space, and VegasMGM Gran style amenities d Det roit (e.g., posh spas, fine dining) to their existing facilities, the casino operators are also signaling their intent not only to stick around but to immerse themselves in both Detroit’s fledgling service economy and community life in the process. “This was an opportunity for us and the city,” says John Hutar, MGM Grand Detroit’s vice president of hotel operations, who adds that the company fielded over 27,000 prospects for roughly 3,000 jobs at the 400-room resort. “It was just staggering the amount of interest we had,” says Hutar, who laments not having had more positions he could fill. “In the talent pool available to us the people are genuine and warm at heart. Many of them grew up locally in families that worked in the auto industry—someone with Chrysler would marry into a GM or a Ford family. Many thought they’d secured jobs for life AUGUST 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS A WIN-WIN OPPORTUNITY The move to broaden Detroit’s casinos into Vegas-styled resort destinations has been brewing for some time. According to the American Gaming Association, Detroit ranks fifth in the U.S. casino markets, with a and major meeting space. Downtown’s resurgence notwithstanding, Detroit can still use any economic boost that comes its way. Detroit’s unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in May, caused primarily by sagging car sales. Against that backdrop, the opening of the hotel resorts only mimegasite.com 46 http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - August 2008

Successful Meetings - August 2008 Contents Editor's Note Industry Trends Industry Events On the Record Technology Calendar Websites of the Month Personal Success Technology Talk Food & Beverage Pre-Event On Site Tools of the Trade Pre-Event Crude Awakening Oil’s Well Betting on Development The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of No Spa, No Dice New & Improved Bean Counting Places & Spaces Cleveland Palm Springs, Desert Resorts Midwest Meetings San Antonio Yucatan Peninsula Gurus

Successful Meetings - August 2008

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