• November 30, 2010

Travel Michigan announced today that the Pure Michigan winter ad campaign scheduled to begin airing in January will be canceled on Dec. 3 unless the state legislature approves new funding.

The Pure Michigan promotion budget for the 2011 fiscal year has been reduced to $5.4 million, from $17 million in 2010 and $28 million in 2009. Full funding of the Pure Michigan campaign is $30 million per year, which provides for both national and regional ads for the spring/summer tourism season and regional campaigns for both the fall and winter tourism seasons.

Michigan tourism organizations and businesses contributed $1.4 million to the Pure Michigan campaign in 2010 through a Travel Michigan cooperative advertising program, and they stand ready to up that to $2 million in 2011 if the Pure Michigan campaign is fully funded at $30 million for 2011.

However, without legislative action in 2010 on the Pure Michigan promotion budget, there will be no funding available for a Pure Michigan cooperative advertising program in 2011.--Tanya Irwin