Several new attractions will headline the 5th Annual “Be a Tourist in Your Home Town” on July 15.
This year’s venues include stops at the Durant-Dort Factory One, Factory Two, Ferris Wheel Building and the new Treehouse at For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum. In all, nearly three-dozen venues will participate in the one-day excursion that gives residents and non-residents alike the opportunity to experience some of the best of what the community has to offer – all for only $1.
Presented by the Flint & Genesee Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the event takes place July 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., from its hub at the Chamber offices in the Mott Foundation Building, 519 S. Saginaw St.
“Tourists” purchase passports that grants access to more than two dozen venues throughout Flint. The passports are also valid for a 10-percent discount on food and soft drink purchases at a dozen restaurants in downtown Flint. Complimentary transportation between attractions is provided by co-sponsor Mass Transportation Authority (MTA) on designated MTA “Tourist” buses.
“This is a fantastic event, and a great way to get re-acclimated with Flint and Genesee County,” said CVB Director DeAndra McCain. “It’s a chance to see some of the fun things that community has to offer as well as an opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the area businesses or organizations that are helping to move our region forward.”
Additional participating venues: Applewood Estate, Edible Flint Demonstration Garden, Flint Children’s Museum, Flint Farmers’ Market, Flint Handmade Summer Arts & Crafts Street Fair, Flint Public Library, Food Bank of Eastern Michigan’s Hunger Solution Center, For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum, Emflower, Genesee County Gospel Festival, Greater Flint Arts Council, Knob Hill Bed & Breakfast, Longway Planetarium, MTA Downtown Transportation Center, McFarlan Veterans Memorial Park, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Michigan School for the Deaf, M-W Gallery, Sloan Museum, Stockton Center at Spring Grove Museum, Superintendent’s Cottage, Totem Books, Whaley Historic House Museum, The Whiting, UAW Sit Down Strike Memorial, University of Michigan-Flint, Frances Willson Thompson Library & Genesee Historical Collections Center, and more.
Last year’s event drew a record crowd of 1,028 participants, with attendance up by more than 5 percent over 2015.
Passports for 2017 can be purchased online HERE. The passports can be picked at the Chamber office on the day of the event, where tourists will also receive their maps and catch the MTA shuttle.