WWJ

A new study has confirmed that Travel Michigan's first-ever national ad campaign with its "Pure Michigan" theme continues to deliver a significant return on investment.

The study, by Longwoods International, a research firm specializing in tourism advertising return on investment, found that the campaign last spring and summer motivated 680,000 new trips to Michigan from outside the Great Lakes region.

Those visitors spent $250 million at Michigan businesses last summer as a direct result of the Travel Michigan advertising program. In addition, these new out-of-state visitors paid $17.5 million in state taxes while in Michigan, yielding a $2.23 return on investment for the tourism advertising.

Pure Michigan television commercials aired nationally 7,900 times on 15 cable channels in 2009, and they were seen by an estimated 60 million Americans from coast to coast.

"The Pure Michigan campaign is motivating travelers from all over the United States to choose Michigan as a destination, helping diversify and grow our economy," said Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. "Now millions more know about our sandy beaches along America's longest fresh-water coastline, our natural and recreational areas, and the vibrancy and culture of our great cities. The 2009 national Pure Michigan campaign is the first step toward Michigan being recognized as one of America's top vacation destinations."

In addition, the study also determined the effectiveness of the campaign on the regional level. Longwoods International assessed the impact of the 2009 Pure Michigan summer advertising on the residents of the Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Ontario, Canada markets. The focus of the study was to quantify the levels of travel generated by the advertising and the economic impact of that travel. The Pure Michigan campaign was able to improve its regional return on investment from $2.86 since 2004 to $5.34 in 2009.

"Combining our national and regional advertising last spring and summer, the Pure Michigan campaign motivated two million trips to Michigan from out of state last summer, and those new visitors spent more than $500 million at Michigan businesses," said George Zimmermann, vice president for Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "But these very positive results will be fleeting if we do not adequately fund national and regional Pure Michigan advertising in 2010 and beyond."

The total tourism promotion budget for all seasons in 2009 was $30 million, which ranked Michigan as the sixth largest state tourism promotion budget in America. The current appropriation for tourism promotion in 2010 is $5.4 million, which would reduce Michigan's state tourism budget ranking to approximately 42nd in the nation.

For more information visit www.michigan.org.

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