August 2, 2021 Detroit skyline. Credit: Vito Palmisano With nonstop flights to 150 destinations around the world; the nation’s 17th-largest convention center, TCF Center (with over 723,000 square feet of convention space); vibrant business hubs; and a determined, hard-working attitude, Detroit was poised for continued success going into 2020. “We thought 2020 was going to be our best year ever,” said Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit. “We had this incredible lineup of events.” Enter the pandemic. After more than a year of a shuttered meeting scene, the first in-person events returned to Motor City in June, and Molinari said the hospitality industry is revved up and ready for the return of groups.