'Two-nation destination:' Windsor officials say sponsoring Detroit Grand Prix helps tourism

Officials in Detroit are setting up for the Grand Prix for the second year in downtown Detroit. And once again the City of Windsor is sponsoring the International Media Center in the General Motors Renaissance Center.

The city has sponsored the media centre at the race with $50,000 since 2013, with the exception of 2020 when the race was cancelled by the pandemic.

"What it does is it reinforces the City of Windsor brand and it brings awareness to those 100,000 or so race fans that are on that side of the border, that Windsor's right across the border," said Gordon Orr, CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island (TWEPI).

Orr said they get TV ads on the national broadcast of the race, the naming rights for the media centre, signage throughout the course and the ability to raise awareness of the tourism attractions in Windsor Essex.

Michael Montri, the president of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, said "For folks who aren't familiar with Detroit, and they're not familiar with how close Detroit is to Canada it's a real eyeopener," he said.

TWEPI tourism officials pose for a picture at the TWEPI display at the International Media Center at the Detroit Grand Prix in 2023. (Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island)

Orr said they can't say how many visitors the sponsorship has generated "because it's leisure travel. It's independent travel," but it helps our tourism officials build relationships with officials in Detroit who make decisions on events the city hosts, such as the NFL Draft.

"What we do know is if we weren't there, we wouldn't be able to build this sort of brand awareness and offer these sort of trip inspiration ideas. So it really is about building that brand and making those connections with our counterparts in Detroit." said Orr.

Indy cars hit the streets of Detroit in the 2023 Detroit Grand Prix. (Detroit Grand Prix)

Montri said Windsor has been a great partner over the years.

"One of our goals is to connect folks in the community, whether those are municipalities, governments, businesses or just regular fans and we have a number of events over the course of the year where we attempt to do this, and I think we do a pretty job of getting people together and talking and networking and understanding how each operate, do business live their lives."

Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino is the vice-chair of TWEPI. He agrees that sponsoring big events like the Grand Prix in Detroit is now imperative in attracting visitors to Windsor.

"So it's building partnerships... it's looking at our city as a two-nation destination," said Agostino.

Agostino hinted that TWEPI will be working with the Grand Prix organizers about another event this summer but wouldn't give details.

Meanwhile, the Windsor-Detroit tunnel bus will be running a regular schedule during the weekend, with the exception of Sunday when it will start hourly runs at 6 a.m. rather than 8 a.m.

"And that's because we have a lot of Canadian volunteers that head over before the race starts and also gives people an opportunity if they want to get over there a little earlier," said Tyson Cragg, executive director of Transit Windsor.

Cragg said the bus can't go past the pick up at Mariner's Church at the Detroit side of the tunnel due to the road closures. He said they will just run extra buses every hour to handle the race goers instead of a special event bus. He said it's not necessary to pre-book a ride which costs $10.

Orr said tourism is an important part of the Windsor-Essex economy.

"Our total visitor segment is about 4.4 million visitors that generate over $669 million in economic benefit and they help support an industry of about that employs approximately 10,000 people," said Orr.