• February 6, 2010

Travel Michigan's "Pure Michigan" ad campaign continues to deliver a significant return on investment according to a recent study conducted by Longwoods International, a research firm specializing in tourism advertising return on investment.

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 the U.S. 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.

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

Pure Michigan TV spots 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.--Tanya Irwin