Casinos play key role in Detroit’s tourism image

As the permanent casinos and associated hotels become closer to
reality, experts assess their role in Detroit’s tourism industry.

Excerpt:

Tourism officials say there are already plenty of reasons to visit Detroit, and they’re hoping the permanent casinos will encourage visitors to stay longer — people like Don Lucy, a Lee, Mass., resident who visited Detroit for the first time to watch the Boston Red Sox play the Tigers at Comerica Park.

The retired teacher said he planned to return to Greektown later to hit the slots.

Friends balked when he told them he was visiting Detroit, and he worried as he drove past smokestacks and grimy industrial landscapes.

“Once you get in the city central, it’s beautiful, very nice,” Lucy said. “I’d like to come back out here again.

“I like Detroit. I never thought I’d say that.”

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