The Traverse City area is the largest producer of tart cherries in the United States. Near the time of cherry harvest, the city hosts the annual week-long National Cherry Festival in the first full week of July, attracting approximately 500,000 visitors annually. The surrounding countryside also produces grapes, and is one of the centers of wine production in the Midwest. Tourism, both summer and winter, is another key industry. The Traverse City area features varied natural attractions, including freshwater beaches, vineyards, a National Lakeshore, downhill skiing areas, and numerous forests.

Traverse City is named after the Grand Traverse Bay, which the city heads. The bay earned its name from 18th-century French voyageurs who made la grande traverse, or "the long crossing", across the mouth of bay. On Old Mission peninsula, Rev Peter Doughtery started the first permanent settlement in 1839.