TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Pure Michigan marketing
campaign is drawing waves of first-time travelers from outside the state
and will be increasingly crucial as the industry seeks to expand,
leaders said Monday.
Representatives of tourism-related business,
consultants and government officials were kicking off development of a
five-year strategy for building on the successful blitz, which features
commercials on cable television putting Michigan’s waterways and other
eye-catching vistas on display.
"It’s incredibly effective in
bringing in the newcomers," Steve Yencich, president of the Michigan
Lodging and Tourism Association, said during the Pure Michigan
Governor’s Conference on Tourism 2012 in Grand Rapids. "Every visit
results in new jobs, new tax revenues, a stronger economy."
Statistics
released at the conference said the publicity campaign drew 3.2 million
visitors and generated $1 billion in spending last year. Those
travelers paid $70 million in Michigan taxes, meaning the state received
$4.90 for each dollar invested in Pure Michigan ads, according to a
study by Longwoods International, a tourism research company.
The program is "delivering impressive results for our state," Gov. Rick Snyder said.
In-state
residents historically have been the backbone of Michigan’s tourism
industry, but they’re no longer enough, said Dan McCole, assistant
professor of tourism at Michigan State University.
"We’ve got a shrinking population and fewer high-paying jobs than we’ve had in the past,"
McCole said.
The
latest Pure Michigan ad series got under way last week. The campaign
will place commercials promoting Michigan as a warm-weather vacation
haven on more than two dozen cable channels including A&E, Animal
Planet, Lifetime and news networks.
The state kicked in $10
million for the blitz and private sector groups added a combined $2
million to showcase Ann Arbor, Mackinac Island, the Henry Ford museum in
Dearborn and Traverse City.
Officials also announced a
"co-branding" deal with Coca-Cola, which agreed to feature images of
Michigan scenery alongside the company logo on its billboards, delivery
trucks, vending machines and signs across the state. The company also
will sponsor a contest for trips to Mackinac Island, Detroit, Traverse
City and the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Long-term
success will depend not only on persuading long-distance travelers to
give Michigan a try, but also on making them happy enough to return,
Yencich said.
"It’s incumbent on us to have people highly trained
and motivated to deliver that great experience, so when they go home
they’ll want to come back and tell their family and friends," he said.
Tourism
spending in Michigan totaled $17.2 billion in 2010, a 21 percent
increase over the previous year. McCole was scheduled to announce
statistics for 2011 Tuesday.
Yencich said he expected the numbers
to show another increase and that spending should rise again this year.
Higher gas prices might put a damper on short weekend trips but are
unlikely to disrupt major travel plans, he said.
"I don’t think
there’s a spouse in the country that will look across the table and say,
‘Honey, we’re canceling our vacation because gas prices are $4.50 a
gallon,’" Yencich said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.