With international tunnel and bridge border crossings providing travellers with easy access to the heart of Windsor, tourism has become a big part of the local economy.

Canada's southernmost city welcomed 5.3 million visitors in 2003, according to the most recent figures available from the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Windsor, Essex and Point Pelee. The visitors, about 79 per cent of whom live in the United States, spent an estimated $485 million.

Niagara Falls was the only city in Canada with more American visitors in 2003 - 5.8 million.

"Casino Windsor 11 years ago was an injection (of tourism dollars) and is considered part of the lifeblood of our community," says Gordon Orr, the convention and visitors bureau's managing director.

Illustration courtesy Casino Windsor
The planned Casino Windsor expansion includes three drop-off lanes and a skybridge.

The Windsor casino, which opened in 1994, was the first in the Windsor-Detroit area. With more than 4,000 direct jobs, it is now Windsor's third-largest employer, trailing only DaimlerChrysler with 8,000 jobs and Ford with 6,600. Windsor has a population of about 209,000 people.

"We are the No. 1 tourist attraction in our area," says Holly Ward, the casino's director of corporate and community affairs. "We've also given back around $9 million in charitable giving through our program Casino Windsor Cares."

Although Detroit now has three casinos, Ward says business at the Windsor gaming site remains strong. "About 80 per cent of our players are from the U.S. We have a lot of loyal customers, being we were first on the block."

In February, the provincial government announced that Casino Windsor would undergo a $400-million expansion that includes a new 5,000-seat theatre and 400-room hotel tower.

The project also includes 100,000 sq. ft. of convention space and renovations to the current structure, which has 389 hotel rooms, a 230-seat theatre and 100,000 sq. ft. of gaming space.

Downtown Windsor also has a booming bar scene that attracts large numbers of young Americans, Orr says.

"We've got the 19- and 20-year-olds coming over from the States because they're still not old enough to drink in Michigan," he says. Michigan's legal drinking age is 21.

"We're not supposed to market something we're not," Orr says. "And right now (the downtown) is not a shopping district or a family district."

While Ward says behaviour is not an issue at the casino, the executive director of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Area (DWBIA) paints a different picture of the nightlife.

"We're very supportive of all the private investments," Judith Veresuk says. "However, we have behavioural issues with the clubgoers."

Gordon Orr

"We are looking at implementing a hospitality resource panel. These panels have been successful throughout the States in dealing with management and behavioural issues with respect to attendees."

Veresuk, however, does not believe those issues deter businesses from setting up shop downtown. "Our membership is 650 businesses. Our sectors that are represented are restaurants and clubs, gaming, hospitality, retail, professional services and then property owners and developers."

Orr says although the downtown is currently an entertainment district, that is not his only desire. "I would hope we would diversify and make it more family-friendly. The more the city does to diversify will make this a more viable tourist destination.

"We should add some infrastructure, which would help complement the added visitation the casino will be bringing us," Orr says. "I think the casino is going to take a major stab at making the downtown more family-friendly with their new addition."

The DWBIA, which has an annual budget of $865,000, provides services such as a downtown information centre and a business directory, as well as promoting events and projects in the downtown. While Veresuk says some initiatives have been put off for budgetary reasons, the association is working on revitalizing downtown.

"We've struck up key partnerships with our local real estate board to promote office and retail space downtown. They're also working on an urban living brochure. We're trying to beef up our residential as well," she says.

Veresuk says the DWBIA is also concentrating on cleaning up the downtown streets with additional cleaning services. "We've expanded their services so they're going to be out longer hours on more days. They started last week and it's already looking more clean downtown."

A recurring issue is whether a new multi-purpose arena should be built in the downtown area. The current arena, which is home to the Windsor Spitfires, is one of the oldest buildings in the Ontario Hockey League.

Dave Genik, the city's manager of commercial development, says a 50-acre piece of land has been sitting vacant in the western fringe of the downtown for years.

"What people may not know about is the community improvement plan that is referred to as the Western Super Anchor," says Genik. "That was the spot the arena had been touted to go."

Adds Veresuk: "If you use logic, a new arena would definitely help improve business downtown. Look at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids (Michigan) - they built their arena downtown and 20 businesses sprung up around it."

Janette MacDonald, manager of Mainstreet London, says the downtown John Labatt Centre (JLC) has helped attract more than 60 businesses since it opened in 2002.

"The construction of the JLC, along with the market, library and Forks of the Thames revitalization, has been the catalyst for over $200 million worth of private investment," MacDonald says. "It has also encouraged much more tourism and therefore more money in the economy."

The current arena is about one block from Casino Windsor and Genik says with the casino's expansion, there is no longer a need for a multi-purpose facility as originally intended.

Orr says Windsor also is hoping for some positive effects from the 2006 Super Bowl that will be played at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

"City council has dedicated funds to it by sponsoring the Detroit Super Bowl Committee to the tune of $250,000 US. We've blocked about 1,400 guest bedrooms that are guaranteed over four nights. NFL Canada is hosting a few of their sanctioned events on this side of the border to truly make it an international event," Orr says.

The increased value of the Canadian dollar has caused concerns among some businesses in Canadian border cities that rely on U.S. visitors, although Genik says there may be some overreacting.

"If you watch any newscast across the country, you will see the exchange rate," he says. "We make assumptions that people on the other side of the border track it like we do, and they don't. Yes, the exchange rate impacts, but it doesn't impact their movements nearly to the same degree it impacts our movements."

"Downtown Windsor still offers exceptional value to Americans and still at 20 per cent off," Orr says.

Orr also says Windsor reaps benefits from events such as the Blues Festival, the Festival of Epicure and the Buskers Festival.

"We have a booming festival network hosting around 75 annual festivals every year," he says. "We don't have an official number, but these festivals are drawing hundreds of thousands of people annually."

(Dave Richie can be reached at richie@businessedge.ca)