Getting started on creating your Detroit experience is easy!
Review our current offerings below, fill out the inquiry form, and a DXF staff member will contact you to review details.
Custom Tours and Experiences
Detroit Experience Factory’s customized experiences can take you to virtually every landmark, neighborhood and development imaginable between our NEW VIRTUAL TOURS and socially distant walking tours. Chat with small business owners on some of Detroit’s reemerging retail corridors, learn how Detroit’s past impacts its present, or gaze in amazement at Detroit’s architectural gems - the Detroit adventure is up to you.
Our custom tours are perfect for:
Education clients
Past clients: University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Michigan State University, Albion College, Cranbrook Schools, Detroit Public Schools, Teach for America, Duke University, and many more.
Corporate clients
Past clients: Quicken Loans, Google, General Motors, Bosch, Campbell Ewald, DTE Energy, Detroit Lions, Little Caesars Enterprises, Henry Ford Health System, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Marriott, Brose North America, and many more.
Personal clients
Past clients: Family reunions, bachelor + bachelorette groups, wedding parties + guests, birthday parties, and every group in between.
Current Offerings
Virtual Tours
In these unprecedented times, Detroit Experience Factory has developed virtual tour experiences to continue the mission of using immersive storytelling to educate locals and visitors about Detroit’s people, places and projects. Utilizing a mixture of Google maps, historical photos, videos, and presentations via Zoom, DXF tour guides will lead your group through the streets of Detroit’s past and present.
Virtual tour themes available: Detroit 101, A Short History of Racism in Detroit, Art and Architecture, Best of Downtown, Detroit Neighborhoods (Corktown, Fitzgerald, Eastern Market, The Villages, and more), Detroit Music City. Don’t see your theme here? We can customize routes and content to match your group and interests!
Recorded video experiences also available.
Watch sample clips from our public virtual tours here.
“The [virtual] tour was very informative and covered a lot of ground in such a short period of time. I learned some new things and had thought provoking conversation with others afterwards.”
Socially Distanced Walking Tours
Experiencing Detroit by foot is still in, and available for your private group. Adhering to social distance guidelines, these routes include an overview of the people, places and neighborhoods that make up Detroit’s diverse landscape. You’ll see new development, historical gems, small businesses and innovative projects that are developing unique solutions to the challenges the city faces.
Socially distant requirements now include small group size, masks, and individual access to fully charged cellphone and headphones for tour guide audio.
“I’ve lived here my whole life the DXF neighborhood tour introduced me to new people and places around the city. There is always something new to learn in Detroit, even for locals.”
Downtown In-Person Scavenger Hunt
Team building doesn’t get much better than this. Teams of 3 or 4 will be given clues, and they’ll have 2 hours to scour downtown to find the answers. Participants will not only have a great time, but they’ll learn about what Detroit has to offer too. Whether you’ve been here your whole life or just arrived, you’ll discover Detroit like never before. Each team receives access to a unique digital clue and answer sheet for scouring. Prize included for first place team. Other neighborhoods are available as well like Eastern Market, Midtown or New Center.
“Even though many of our faculty, staff and partners have lived in the region for some time, the tour introduced them to people, places and projects that were unknown to most and left them a with a renewed sense of excitement about Detroit.”
City Institute In-Depth Experiences
City Institute, a program of DXF led by Jeanette Pierce, shares lessons learned from Detroit to inspire individuals, organizations and cities to innovate for a better future. Jeanette has been recognized for her work by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of the Top Forty under 40, by DBusiness Magazine as a Thirty in their 30’s, and by Detroit Free Press as a Shining Light Future Leader Award. Previous clients include: City of Portland, City of Graz, Harvard University Loeb Fellows, Salesforce, Nike, Detroit Revitalization Fellows, Davidson Foundation, Governor’s Economic Summit, Downtown Las Vegas Annual Meeting.
Core programming includes: Learning Journeys, City Experience Program, Keynotes + Workshops, Virtual Experience Consultation, Customized Virtual Experiences, and more.
“City Institute helped inspire us to think about how we can collectively work to tell [Akron] stories in a more impactful and experiential way.”
“I found DXF online and it was an amazing company to work with! Planned a tour with stops based on our theme of community wellness. Rieanna planned a seamless tour and Davy and Carolyn were excellent guides. The scavenger hunt was great, too. Highly recommend this company for personalized tours of Detroit!
- Private tour client, 2019
