Michigan Launches First Ever National Campaign$10 Million National Cable TV Buy To Help Diversify Michigan's Economy

Kirsten Borgstrom
(517) 335-1871 or [email protected]

Lansing, Michigan - The award-winning Pure Michigan tourism campaign goes national for the first time on Monday, March 30. The $10 million national cable television campaign has been developed to showcase Michigan's greatest assets, from its more than 800 public golf courses and resorts to four national parks, from urban treasures and world-class destinations to outdoor adventures. The campaign will run through June on 15 national cable channels: Golf Channel, Travel Channel, A&E, Bravo, Style, Fine Living, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, E!, DIY Network, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News.

"At a time when many states are reducing their tourism promotion efforts, we have the largest budget for tourism promotion in Michigan's history at $30 million," said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "We created four new television commercials for the cable buy, and they will air more than 5,000 times nationally on cable TV."

"There are millions of Americans who know little or nothing about the vibrancy, heritage, culture, arts and entertainment in our great cities, the sandy beaches and stunning overlooks along America's longest fresh-water coastline, or the majesty and recreation in our 19 million acres of magnificent forests. The Pure Michigan campaign is designed to introduce to the nation the attributes that make Michigan such a popular and unique destination," Zimmermann added.

Michigan's tourism promotion budget has grown dramatically in recent years from less than $6 million in 2005 to $30 million in 2009, which was part of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm's economic stimulus program for the state. Annual independent return on investment research has shown that Michigan's tourism promotion spending generates more for the state treasury than it costs. Specifically, for each dollar Michigan spent on out-of-state advertising from 2004 through 2008, new visits to Michigan motivated by that advertising created more than $40 of spending at Michigan businesses and generated $2.86 in new state tax collections.

Zimmermann noted that visitors spend $18.1 billion annually traveling in Michigan, generating $874 million in state taxes, and accounting for 192,000 jobs statewide.

The Pure Michigan campaign will also air in Travel Michigan's traditional markets of Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis, South Bend, Southern Ontario and Toledo. In addition, the campaign appears in-state in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, Lansing and Traverse City. Michigan native and television personality Tim Allen voices the national television commercials. The Birmingham, Michigan office of McCann Erickson developed the strategy and creative for the Pure Michigan campaign. To view the new campaign go to michigan.org.

The official Michigan travel information site, michigan.org, features more than 12,000 attractions, events, hotels, resorts, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses. The site highlights special travel deals for golf and other warm weather activities for all ages and interests. In 2007 and 2008, michigan.org was the most popular state tourism Web site in America.

The 2009 Michigan Travel Ideas magazine is available free of charge; go to michigan.org, or call toll-free (888) 784-7328. Michigan Travel Ideas is also available at the 14 Michigan Welcome Centers across the state.

Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is the State of Michigan's official agency for the promotion of tourism. Travel Michigan markets the state's tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For Michigan travel news and updates, go to michigan.org.