New Ad Campaign Targets Out-of-State Travel Business
By Karen Gould

Michigan tourism generates $17.5 billion in revenue, contributes $971 million in state taxes, and employs 193,000 people. Tourism is big business for the state, ranking as one of the top three contributors to the economy, along with agriculture and the auto industry.

This year the state's budget for tourism is $13.2 million, double what it was one year ago at $5.7 million, but is it enough to compete with neighboring states like Wisconsin, which spends more than $25 million annually on tourism promotion? Illinois, one of Michigan's tourism target markets, spends more than $47 million to lure travelers.

George Zimmerman, vicepresident of Travel Michigan, said when the organization first heard about the state's proposed 21st Century Job Fund bill last year, which would add $15 million over the next two years to the tourism budget, the department began brainstorming how to spend the added dollars.

Last fall, the bill was signed into law and tourism officials went to work on their plans.

"All of us believe Michigan has a national quality tourism product, though even with the added money, it is not enough to fund a national campaign," said Mr. Zimmerman.

So the agency decided on three spending objectives: "Beefing up" those markets the state had targeted in 2005, including Chicago, Cleveland, and Indianapolis; going after three new markets, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Ontario; and spending more on in-state marketing.

While the impact of the larger budget won't be known until the end of this year, last year's measured results revealed that every dollar spent on tourism advertising brought a return of $3.43 in new tax money to the state, Mr. Zimmerman said.

"Having those numbers has been very powerful for us," he return on investment in dollars spent was a useful tool when seeking budget dollars from state legislators.

"Frankly, because we've been doing return-on-investment studies for the last year, I think that this is one reason government legislators gave us the $15 million. The numbers demonstrate the advertising works," he said.

A research study group compiles the data by asking people if they saw the Michigan ad, if they traveled to Michigan, and if they did travel here, how much money they spent on their trip. The group also is able to identify the type of travel that was motivated by the advertising.

Mr. Zimmerman said studies have shown that people in Cleveland are more likely to be interested in a city vacation, so the Michigan ad shown in Cleveland is aimed at adult nightlife. In Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and southern Ontario, three ads focus on Michigan's natural beauty.

The advertising campaign is called "Pure Michigan," designed to promote the entire state. The ads offer an emotional image of Michigan with a focus on environment and culture, yet not on any specific geographic area. One of the ads includes a film of water around the state including rivers and Lake Superior with the cliffs at Pictured Rocks, while another talks about trails, though not trails in the traditional sense. The 30-second ad shows Grand Hotel's porch and Hoban Street on Mackinac Island, among other state sites.

"The ads portray a positive, emotional image of what a great state Michigan is to travel in," said Mr. Zimmerman.

The point of the ads is to draw television viewers to Michigan's travel Web site, www.michigan. org., and Mr. Zimmerman sees an 80 percent increase in visitors to the Web site through June, over last year.

Once on the site, potential tourists to Michigan can learn more about the state, travel destinations, and vacation opportunities. The top searches made on the site by visitors so far this summer include beaches, camping, state parks, Traverse City, and Mackinac Island.

Though not shown on television stations in this area, the Pure Michigan ads, which run 30 seconds each, can be found at www.travelmichigannews.org/ad s.htm.

Mr. Zimmerman anticipates data showing the results of this year's campaign by late fall, information he needs to determine next year's ad allocation.

Travel Michigan is the state's official tourism agency and is a part of the Michigan Development Corporation, funded by the legislature. The agency promotes leisure travel destinations and does not target the convention and business meeting markets. A 13-member advisory group to Travel Michigan, called the Michigan Travel Commission, is appointed by the governor and is comprised of industry people who are involved in the travel business, including Ken Hayward, vice-president of sales at Grand Hotel.

"They provide input, feedback, a perspective, and a sounding board from the private sector," said Mr. Zimmerman

In addition to Travel Michigan, four other groups support travel to Michigan, Time Coalition, Tourism Industry Coalition Association, Michigan Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, and the MSU Tourism Program.

The Time Coalition is a new industry group that works to get Travel Michigan funding increased. The group supports Travel Michigan's return on investment studies and wants the state to increase Travel Michigan's budget to $30 million. Tourism Industry Coalition

Association is a combined group of other associations, including members from the hotel, boating, and restaurant associations. This group allows members to share information for their industries.

The Michigan Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus promotes meeting and convention travel within the state.

Michigan State University's Tourism Center is funded by the private sector and is working on a statewide study to develop a Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan, in which Travel Michigan is involved.