Mackinac Island is the USA’s Best Summer Travel Destination. One of the country’s Best Places to Visit for Fall. And the No. 1 Best Island in the Continental U.S.
Tourists love Mackinac Island! And the same incredible features that attract leisure travelers to the Crown Jewel of the Great Lakes also are ideal for memorable company retreats and business meetings, too.
With world-class venues, professional staff and incredible places to stay, Mackinac Island has everything you need to hold your next event. Not only that, there’s so much for meeting attendees to do afterhours. It’s the best of both worlds – perfect for business and pleasure!
In fact, Mackinac Island is so well regarded as a destination for meetings and events that it has been chosen to host the National Tour Association’s Contact conference in May 2025!
Download the Mackinac Island Conventions and Meetings Guide
Meeting Amenities on Mackinac Island
Take a look at these five reasons to hold your next business meeting or convention on Michigan’s Mackinac Island:
- Mackinac Island offers more than 100,000 square-feet of meeting rooms for events of all sizes, from small employee retreats and board meetings to large government and business conventions. The extraordinary variety of meeting space includes historic world-class resorts as well as tremendous local hospitality at one-of-a-kind boutique hotels.
- Mackinac Island has professional staff who provide turnkey event planning for all sizes of business meetings. The island’s event planning staff is superbly qualified to handle everything, so you don’t have to sweat the details.
- Mackinac Island offers so many things to do for attendees when work is done for the day. There are horse-drawn carriage rides and historic forts, fudge tasting and fine dining, hiking and biking through Mackinac Island State Park, sunset cruises and sunrise paddles, golf, shopping, spas and so much more.
- Whether your meeting schedule calls for a catered meal in between workshops or a dinner out on the town, Mackinac Island has a fantastic menu of excellent dining with upscale and casual options. There’s also plenty of opportunity to recap the day’s discussions over drinks at one of Mackinac Island’s many nightlife hot spots.
- Mackinac Island is full of unique and historic places to stay, from world-class resorts and boutique hotels to quaint cottages, luxury condos and Victorian B&Bs. With such a wonderful array of options, you’re bound to find a nice block of rooms that suit what you need for your retreat.
Things for Meeting Attendees To Do on Mackinac Island
Attractions are a major aspect of a successful business retreat. From students on a field trip to professionals looking to unwind after a day of meetings to retirees on a Great Lakes cruise, groups of all ages enjoy Mackinac Island. With so much to see and do, everyone is sure to have a good time.
Take a closer look at some of the most popular things to do on Mackinac Island:
- 7 sights to see on a horse-drawn carriage tour of Mackinac Island
- What to expect on the 8.2-mile bike ride around Mackinac Island
- How to get free fudge on Mackinac Island
- 4 hiking trails to explore on Mackinac Island
- 6 extraordinary boat tours around Mackinac Island
- The spectacular golf courses of Mackinac Island
- The ultimate Mackinac Island shopping guide
- Things to do at Mackinac Island’s historic Fort Mackinac
- The spas of Mackinac Island
- Where to get a drink on Mackinac Island
How to Get to Mackinac Island
When you’re walking past horse-drawn carriages and Victorian cottages, Mackinac Island feels like a world away. Yet, it’s easily accessible by car, boat or plane.
Here’s a look at the various ways of getting meeting attendees to Mackinac Island:
Getting to Mackinac Island by Plane
- Take a commercial flight into one of Michigan’s major international airports in Detroit (DTW), Grand Rapids (GRR), Flint (FNT), Traverse City (TVC), Lansing (LAN), Kalamazoo (AZO) or Saginaw (MBS). Then, rent a car and drive to the Mackinac Island ferry docks in Mackinaw City.
- The airports nearest Mackinac Island are Pellston Regional Airport (PLN) and Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which have connecting flights from major international airports such as Detroit (DTW) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP). You can catch a shuttle to the Mackinac Island ferry docks from either of those nearby airports.
- Take a charter flight directly into Mackinac Island Airport from airports around Michigan and beyond. From nearby St. Ignace, the flight takes only about 7 minutes.
Getting to Mackinac Island by Car
- From the south, take I-75 to the ferry docks in Mackinaw City
- From the north, take I-75 or U.S. 2 to the ferry docks in St. Ignace
What to do with your car when visiting Mackinac Island
Getting to Mackinac Island by Boat
- Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry offers boats to Mackinac Island and back from late April through the end of October. The ferry ride takes about 15 minutes from either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace.
Getting Around Mackinac Island
- As a car-free island, Mackinac Island presents no worries about squeezing employees into an Uber to get everywhere they want to go. See how easy it is to get around on Mackinac Island by horse, by bicycle and on foot.
How to Start Planning Your Meeting on Mackinac Island
Sometimes you can do more productive work on your business when you’re not working in your business. When you can take a step away from the distractions and to-do lists of day-to-day operations and focus on the big picture.
Mackinac Island presents an opportunity to do just that. To think outside the box in a place so different that it naturally stimulates your creative spirit. To access state-of-the-art technology and modern amenities while at the same time exposing yourself to historic charm at every turn. To have a blast after hours in a truly unique place with something fun to do for everyone.
For your next business meeting or convention, consider Mackinac Island. We welcome you to request a Mackinac Island meeting proposal. You also can contact the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau team directly by emailing Annie Farrell at [email protected] or by calling her at 906-847-3783. You won’t have to worry about booking hotel rooms, reserving dinner tables or planning activities and attractions. We’ll coordinate it all!
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