04/01/2013

2025 Host CVB: Destination Toledo

Destination Toledo

Welcome Association Professionals, CVB Leaders and Industry Partners to the 2025 OSAP Annual Conference!

The OSAP 2025 Annual Conference | July 23-25, 2025

Destination Toledo is a not-for-profit organization and the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Lucas County and the Greater Toledo region. Its core mission is to attract meeting, convention and tourism business to the region through strategic, long-term marketing, sales and partnership efforts.

This combination of strategic planning helps position Toledo as an attractive travel destination that greatly attributes to visitor spending at area hotels, restaurants, attractions, retail and local service providers, thus, leading to the economic growth and well-being of the entire Toledo region.

Whether for leisure travelers or meeting professionals, Destination Toledo creates and offers memorable experiences to all those who visit and conduct business in the historic city and region. 

Plan Your Next Event in Toledo Today

Download the Toledo Guide and Meeting Planner Guide to explore the best of Toledo. From unique event venues to delicious dining options, Toledo has everything you need to make the most of your time in the Glass City.

Getting to Toledo is Easy:

Thanks to its central location at the crossroads of I-75 and the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/90), Toledo is within a day’s drive of 60 percent of the U.S. population. 

BY AIR – Toledo is only 45 minutes from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), providing guests worldwide accessibility. Toledo Express Airport (TOL) connects to over 170 destinations across the country, with more being added regularly. Froggy Transportation now runs daily shuttles both ways from Toledo to DTW.

BY TRAIN – Train travel is easy to coordinate for larger groups. To accommodate those passengers, Toledo is conveniently connected to a network of cities across the country by Amtrak.

BY MOTORCOACH – Greyhound and Blue Lakes run out of stations throughout the city, making travel affordable and accessible to large groups.

Interesting Facts about Toledo:

• Lucas County’s travel and tourism industry currently welcomes 15.9 million visitors each year, driving $1.5 billion in visitor spending. 
• The region was part of a larger area controlled by the historic tribes of the Wyandot and the people of the Council of Three Fires (Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa).
• The French established trading posts in the area by 1680 to take advantage of the lucrative fur trade. By the early 18^th century, the Odawa-occupied areas along most of the Maumee River to its mouth. They served as middlemen between the French and tribes further to the west and north.
• When the city of Toledo was preparing to pave its streets, it surveyed "two prehistoric semi-circular earthworks, presumably for stockades." One was at the intersection of Clayton and Oliver Streets on the south bank of Swan Creek; the other was at the intersection of Fassett and Fort Streets on the right bank of the Maumee River. Such earthworks were typical of mound-building peoples.
• Toledo was very slow to expand during its first two decades of settlement. The first lot was sold in the Port Lawrence section of the city in 1833. It held 1,205 persons in 1835; five years later, it had gained just seven more persons. Settlers came and went quickly through Toledo and between 1833 and 1836, ownership of land often changed hands.
• The city's canal and its Toledo side-cut entrance were completed in 1843. 
• In the last half of the 19^th century, railroads slowly began to replace canals as the major form of transportation. They were faster and had greater capacity. Toledo soon became a hub for several railroad companies and a hotspot for industry. With this growth came an influx of large immigrant populations.
• In the 1920s, Toledo had one of the highest rates of industrial growth in the nation. Toledo continued to expand in population and industry, but because of its dependence on manufacturing, the city was hit hard by the Great Depression. However, many large-scale Works Progress Administration projects were constructed to re-employ citizens in the 1930s. 

Just the Basics:

Toledo is located at 41°39′10″N 83°32′16″W (41.6525, −83.5375). It has a total area of 84.12 square miles, of which 3.43 square miles is covered by water. The city straddles the Maumee River at its mouth at the southern end of Maumee Bay, the westernmost inlet of Lake Erie. The city is located north of what had been the Great Black Swamp, giving rise to another nickname, Frog Town. Toledo sits within the borders of a sandy oak savanna called the Oak Openings Region, an important ecological site that once comprised more than 300 square miles.

Toledo is within 250 miles by road from seven metropolitan areas that have a population of more than two million people: Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh; it is also within 300 miles of Toronto, Ontario.

Please select this link to learn more about Destination Toledo.

To learn more about Toledo itself, please select this link.