Tourism Up, but More Effort Needed

Tourism has more good news for Michigan!  Please see the press release below from Travel Michigan.  Tourism is up!  If Presque Isle County wants to earn its share of the tourism business, it will have to step up its game.  Other communities are moving forward.  Will Presque Isle County send a representative to the 2012 Governor's Conference on Tourism?  Please see my notes below for suggestions on how our area could attract tourists.

News from Travel Michigan Vice President, George Zimmermann

The first set of 2011 Michigan tourism data is in, and I am happy to report it is positive.  According to Smith Travel Research, hotel occupancy in Michigan in 2011 was 55.3%, up 6.9% from 2010.  Additionally, revenue per available hotel room (RevPAR) in 2011 was $44.52, up 10% from 2010.  In both categories, while Michigan’s numbers lag the national average, our rate of increase is better than the national average, continuing a trend which began in 2010. 

 
Have you registered for the 2012 Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism?  This year's conference will be at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, March 25 to 27, and we expect this to be the biggest such event in Michigan's history.   Keynote speakers include Governor Rick Snyder, national travel expert and CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg, and Joel Secundy from Brand USA, the new public-private partnership created to, for the first time, market the U.S. as a tourism destination around the world.
 
One new feature this year is a special track for economic developers and regional and local officials, or anyone who wants to see their community grow and prosper via tourism.  This new track will present information on the connection and the correlation between tourism marketing and development and other economic development activity and results. 

Given this, I encourage everyone in the Michigan tourism industry to do two things.  First, register for the conference.  Second, invite your local economic developers, chamber members, city and county officials, mayors and council members, to join you at the conference so they will better understand the power and potential of tourism for your area and for Michigan. 

So, register today and invite your economic development partners, city and county officials to participate in the most important Michigan tourism gathering of the year, the 2012 Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism.

Click here for complete conference details and registration information http://milodging.org/conference/

George

For more information, contact George Zimmermann at (517) 335-1862.  

Tourism News & Trends

Charlevoix to be featured in Pure Michigan radio ads

Petoskey News– January 20, 2012
Rogers City was featured in Under the Radar Michigan.  We have great attractions here!
 
Harbor Springs area to be featured in Pure Michigan campaign
Petoskey News– January 24, 2012

Ford: From the Quadricycle to the Prius

Wall Street Journal – January 21, 2012

Top 10 Beer Cities - #4 Kalamazoo

Livability – January 18, 2012

6 Michigan restaurants, 14 hotels get AAA Four-Diamond ranking

Detroit Free Press – January 20, 2012

Crowds flock to downtown Detroit for final day of Auto Show

Detroit News – January 22, 2012

Search is on for Michigan outstanding outdoor kids
WNEM TV-5 – January 20, 2012
Rogers City kids are up to the challenge!

Enjoy Michigan's Free Fishing Weekend Feb. 18 and 19

Michigan Department of Natural Resources – January 23, 2012
Fishing off Presque Isle County shores is some of the best anywhere!

Michigan Destinations

Selling Birmingham's Downtown Shopping District

Metromode – January 19, 2012

Audio: Travel Michigan Update-Timber Ridge Ski Area

WTVB 1590 AM – January 20, 2012

Q&A on Ice Carving in Pure Michigan

Pure Michigan Connect – January 19, 2012
We could do this....

Pure Michigan News & Updates

You’re Invited: Pure Michigan Ice Climbing Web Chat

Pure Michigan Connect – January 24, 2012

Pure Michigan offers insight on how Frankenmuth, Saginaw got their names
Saginaw News – January 18, 2012

Pure Michigan Apples: Success With Locally-Grown Theme In Supermarkets

Perishable News – January 23, 2012

Go Knaebe's Munchy, Crunchy Apple Farm!

BEYOND MICHIGAN

Hotel room prices rise 4.3% in 2011

LA Times – January 7, 2012
Many of our hotel rooms remain vacant!

Increased tourism a good sign for restaurants

National Restaurant Association Blog – January 4, 2012
Local restraunt operators tell me they have seen a small increase in business due to tourism in Rogers City, but not enough!

Increased tourism in Presque Isle County will result in more jobs and economic improvement.  Please contact your Presque Isle County Commissioner and encourage them to invest in attracting tourists to our area.

Good News about Michigan Tourism

News from Travel Michigan's Director, George Zimmermann

Winter is approaching, but good news from our summer season keeps coming in. Use tax and sales tax data from June through September indicates 2011 was one of the best seasons for Michigan hotels in recent years. The total combined sales and use tax collected was $44,104,375 – the second highest of any year since 1999. The Michigan Department of Treasury reports that the total use tax of June-September was $29,561,930 – the highest number in 13 years. August and September also experienced the highest single month collections in recent history, with July numbers close behind.

We are also seeing positive lodging numbers for the fall tourism season; and yet another positive story in the Detroit News about growing hotel occupancy rates. According to Smith Travel Research, in October hotel occupancy in Michigan averaged 58.4 percent, a 5.9 percent increase from the same period last year. Detroit saw a 10.4 percent increase in occupancy rates from October of 2010 and was ranked 13 out of the top 25 U.S. markets. Michigan also continues to outpace the national growth-rate in lodging occupancy.

Combined these numbers help tell the story that Michigan has experienced very strong room sales so far this year. This is great news as we work to build on the success we have already had with the Pure Michigan campaign here in the state as well as regionally and nationally.

And while we are always thankful for good numbers, sometimes it takes a personal story to put it all in perspective. In today’s Tourism Update be sure to watch the incredible story of the Blakemore family from St. Louis, Missouri. As part of their visit to the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda they received a family trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City and a chance to create some great family memories in Pure Michigan.

With the snow starting to fall and the Pure Michigan winter ad campaign gearing up we are excited for the coming winter tourism season here in Michigan. We have placed nearly $1.7 million in winter advertising in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Ft. Wayne, Green Bay, South Bend and Toledo, plus Michigan markets for December and January. To quote a famous Christmas carol, it is a most wonderful time of the year.

 
For more information, contact George Zimmermann at (517) 335-1879

Travel Michigan

Rogers City is mentioned on the Travel Michigan web site! The following is an excerpt from the Travel Michigan website www.michigan.org

"You don't need your car to cruise a 10-mile stretch of Michigan's Sunrise Coastal Highway Heritage Route tracing US-23 along the Lake Huron shore. From Rogers City to P.H. Hoeft State Park , the new Huron Sunrise Trail provides a smooth paved pathway for bicycles, pedestrians and inline skaters. After winding out of Rogers City park and marina, the trail never strays more than a few feet from the broad, sandy beach. In the 300-acre preserve, the state has linked the Huron Sunrise Trails with its own new, paved trails that slices through the forest to P.H. Hoeft's quiet beach and campground."

What they don't say is that a new leg of the trail is almost complete from Hoeft State Park to 40 Mile Point Light House. This new leg of the Huron Sunrise Trail will be open this summer.

Rogers City is a great place to live, to work, and to play!

Links to Travel Michigan and Others

Promoting Michigan is a good thing! Ron Rademacher of travel Michigan offers the following links for your use:

The February 2009 issue of the newsletter is on line at www.travelinmichigan.com .
Winter will be over soon in our wonderland but there are still some cool festivals.
The Outhouse Classic takes place in Trenary this month.
Links to www.michiganbackroads.com and www.upnorthmichigan.com are included.

Check out all the cool things to do in Rogers City this winter via our events calendar on the home page. Don't forget our great Antique and Vintage Snow Mobile Show on March 13-14, 2009 in downtown Rogers City. It is one of our 1,001 fun things to do!

Cool Video Clip: Chance of Snow

Rogers City is a great place for snow. This winter especially, we have more than a "Chance of Snow." Check out this great little video clip from Travel Michigan to get a feel for the joy of snow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IplMLvcMCY