• September 24, 2010

Michigan has cancelled its fall tourism ads due to budget cuts in the state, according to Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which is the State of Michigan's official agency for the promotion of tourism.

This is the first time since 2005 that Michigan tourism will not have a presence with fall advertising.

Travel Michigan spent $1.7 million on fall advertising in 2009. The "Pure Michigan" promotion budget for 2010 is $17 million, down 37% from $28 million in 2009. To maintain a second year of national cable television advertising for spring/summer, regional advertising was dramatically reduced, including all fall advertising in markets like Chicago.

Travel Michigan's 2009 Pure Michigan advertising campaign delivered a significant return on investment, according to a study conducted by Longwoods International, a research firm specializing in tourism advertising return on investment.

According to the study, the first-ever national "Pure Michigan" ad campaign 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 ad 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.

The study also determined the effectiveness of the campaign on the regional level. Longwoods International assessed the impact of the 2009 summer advertising on the residents of the Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Ontario, Canada markets.

The regional campaign attracted 1.3 million out-of-state visitors to Michigan last summer -- visitors who spent $338 million at Michigan businesses. The campaign was able to improve its regional return on investment from $2.86 since 2004 to $5.34 in 2009.--Tanya Irwin