News from Travel Michigan's Director, George Zimmermann May was an extremely busy month at Travel Michigan. As Chris MacInnes will explain in more detail, one of the highlights was a special Michigan Travel Commission meeting to prioritize an action plan for the Commission based on the recently completed Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan. That action plan will be finalized at the Commission's June 15th meeting at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. All of our Pure Michigan summer advertising and promotion has been deployed both in-state and in our primary out-of-state markets, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Ontario, Canada. The total budget for summer promotion is $11.3 million, including $1.1 million from tourism industry partners. This is the best participation by industry members ever, and we are grateful for your support. From a humble beginning in 2002 with three partnerships, we now have 30 different partnerships representing 75 different destinations this year for out-of-state and in-state advertising and pay-per-click marketing. In addition to our normal public relations activity, we were able to land numerous media interviews both in-state and out-of-state, on topics including the start of the summer travel season, the success of our partnership marketing program and gas prices. On the gas price issue, we continue to make the point that consumers startled by the price at the pump should "do the math" and figure out how much more current gas prices will really add to the cost of their Michigan trip. We believe the "sticker shock" of current gas prices is worse than the fiscal impact on travel expenses. We also are stressing the quality and variety of "one tank Michigan trips" which are available both for in-state and out-of-state travelers. And we are already seeing some positive initial results. In April, when we launched our national golf promotion, michigan.org was the busiest state tourism web site in the country. Details on this web activity are below. For more information, contact George Zimmermann at (517) 335-1879. As We See It, Views from the Travel Commission Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. Coming together is a beginning. In the fall of 2005, when Dr. Don Holecek of Michigan State University challenged the tourism industry to create a strategic plan as a guide for its future, some said it couldn't be done. They said the industry wasn't sufficiently mature to agree on a common set of goals. But Dr. Holecek prevailed, advocating for an industry-driven plan and garnered critical support from Travel Michigan, the Travel Commission and many associations and businesses. The vision was to create a plan for the industry by the industry. The outcome proved that Dr. Holecek was correct: our industry did come together and completed the Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan on time and in budget. Keeping together is progress. In December of 2006, the plan drafters asked the Travel Commission to be the plan's owner. We formally accepted their request on March 26th at the Driving Tourism 2007 Conference knowing that with ownership comes responsibility. We said we would move forward, developing a work agenda based on the plan recommendations. On May 18th, we met for six hours to convert a plan document into an action-oriented implementation strategy. With the support of Travel Michigan and MEDC, we engaged Bill Rustem, Mark Coscarelli and Carol Barish of Public Sector Consultants (PSC) to help define the Commission's work agenda for the next 18-24 months. We also invited all Plan Issue Work Team Chairs and Co-chairs to join, and welcomed industry members. As you might imagine, our conversation was spirited and productive. With the help of our friends from PSC, we developed a template for translating recommendations into action… which we believe is progress. Working together is success. Now, how do we move forward? Like eating an elephant-one bite at a time…and we need to share! We established five committees to take on specific categories of recommendations and asked them to report on progress at the next Commission meeting on June 15th. The recommended initial members of the committees are (with more to be recruited):
Now it's your turn. Underpinning all aspects of our strategic plan are the concepts of partnership and collaboration. As a Commission, we now have a template to collaboratively implement plan recommendations. This structure invites you to continue collaborating with the industry to achieve success. Here's our appeal: If you are willing to serve on one of the newly formed work committees, please e-mail us at mitravelcommission@michigan.org. For Michigan to be a top-5 national travel destination, we must work together. We've got the right stuff…let's put it to use! P.S. You might put hotel industry leader Jonathan Tisch's new best seller, The Power of We-- Succeeding Through Partnerships, on your reading list. It confirms that we're on the right track. Thanks, Chris For more information, contact the Michigan Travel Commission at mitravelcommission@michigan.org. Chicago Commuters Get Taste of Michigan Travel Michigan, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Amtrak and the Michigan Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus, hosted the third annual Michigan Day at Chicago's Union Station, Wednesday, May 16, 2007. The event is geared to boost travel to Michigan's attractions, destinations, shopping, dining, lodging and special event destinations by Chicago-area residents. Throughout the day, participating convention and visitors bureaus had the opportunity to distribute travel information, Michigan apples and other freebies to commuters passing through the Great Hall at Chicago's Union Station, which serves more than 100,000 travelers daily. An impressive 5,000 copies of our Michigan Travel Ideas magazine were distributed in about two and a half hours during the morning commuter rush. Thank you to all of the participating CVBs, MACVB for assistance in distributing sign up information, and Millicent Huminsky for coordinating the event. Also, thank you to the Michigan Apple Committee for providing Michigan apples and Blarney-Castle Oil & Propane/Nestle Waters North America for providing bottled water to hand out to the commuters. Information on the 2008 event will be distributed in early March. For more information, contact Kirsten Borgstrom at (517) 335-1871. Michigan Marketed to International Tour Operators Early Bird Deadline Draws Closer Michigan Travel Ideas advertisers still have time to take advantage of the 5% early bird discount by reserving space by July 1. And the savings just keep mounting up. In an effort to keep this publication affordable, there will not be a rate increase for 2008. Now, that's a great bargain and you need to act now to get in on this super deal. In order to meet one of the earliest demands for information about our state, we are moving the release date for the 2008 publication to late December--a month earlier than previous years. So, get ready, sales representatives will be calling on properties soon. Ad sales for the 2008 publication will close on September 11. Contact Jim Fry at (888) 303-3110, or Richard Konopaske at (269) 965-3134 to reserve your space now. For more details, contact Robin Peebles at (517) 373-7462. michigan.org Web Site Updates — A Travel Perspective April 2007 web visits that were served Travel content at michigan.org have increased by nearly 17 percent over the same period last year. April 2007 web sessions totaled over 951,000 compared to over 814,000 for 2006. Year-to-date totals for 2007 have logged over 3.4 million web sessions. This compares to nearly 2.6 million web sessions through April 2006, an increase of 32 percent.
Total April 2007 click-throughs from michigan.org to Michigan travel industry web sites were over 375,000, an increase of nearly 24 percent over 2006. Total click-throughs for 2007 number nearly 1.3 million; this is an increase of nearly 29 percent over 2006. Click-throughs are defined as the number of times michigan.org web visitors clicked on a link and were transferred to a private sector web site.
According to the rankings of Hitwise, an international company which tracks traffic to major web sites, during April 2007, michigan.org was the #1 state tourism website by market share. Read the press release.
For more information, please contact Gary Platte at (517) 335-1877. michigan.org—Your Promotion Portal The Travel Michigan web site is brimming with information about Michigan's many tourist events and package promotions. However, to be sure that your special package offer and/or travel event is listed in our database, we need you to send us the vital information. Travel Michigan is always happy to promote your tourism related deals and discounts/packages and events. To submit your events, complete our Event Survey and click “Submit.” To submit deals and discounts/packages, complete the Deals and Discount Survey. If a new tourism business would like to be listed in our database, go to "add your business" and fill out the form. Travel Michigan would also like to remind tourism businesses and organizations to review their property descriptions on the Travel Michigan website and to update descriptions as needed. For more information regarding your property or events, contact Trudy Atwood at (800) 676-1743. Promotional Videos Wanted
We are always evaluating new features to enhance michigan.org, looking for ways to make it the most effective web site possible for the marketing of Michigan as a travel destination. One new opportunity we are offering to you is the ability to link from michigan.org to any promotional videos you are presenting on your web site. If you have videos and would like such a link on your michigan.org page, please contact us provide a link to the page on your web site where you have your videos presented. To ensure the authenticity of such videos, we will only link to video pages on your site. We believe giving michigan.org visitors the opportunity to view your promotional videos will increase the effectiveness of the site and the marketing of Michigan for tourism. For more information about video linking, contact Trudy Atwood at (800) 676-1743. PR STAR
Hat's off to Saginaw Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO, Annette Rummel. Thanks to Annie's quick response our Michigan Travel PR team received great b-roll footage just in time for George Zimmermann's appearance on WDIV-TV in Detroit. George promoted several Memorial Day weekend one-tank trip travel ideas including Saginaw Valley destinations. Note to all: Check out our monthly PR Tip - b-roll is a valuable media resource to promote Michigan travel. For more information, contact Kirsten Borgstrom at (517) 335-1871. 2007 International Heritage Development "There ain't no party like a Deeeetroit Party" and we promise you "there ain't no conference like the 2007 International Heritage Development Conference (IHDC)!" That's right; MotorCites National Heritage Area is polishing up the chrome to host IHDC 2007 "Crossing Boundaries in Heritage Development." From June 18-21, Southeastern Michigan will be abuzz with heritage loving individuals sharing experiences and ideas. Here's what we have in store for you. We will reve up our engines with a pre-conference party on June 17 at Michigan International Speedway for the Michigan 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race. Without losing speed, the pre-conference tours will cruise participants around town or across the border with the day ending in a kick off party featuring noted filmmaker Ken Burns. The conference then shifts into high gear with educational sessions and Regional Labs dealing in diverse topics of heritage development. Lighting up the tires and the night, the conference will feature the music of both the inland seas and Motown. Taking the checkered flag, the conference will end with a day at The Henry Ford, a National Historic Landmark. See you there! For more information, contact Dave Lorenz at (517) 335-0007. e-Marketing Insight 2007 Conference Don't miss the e-Marketing Insight Conference-Travel and Tourism Trends, August 2 and 3, 2007, in Detroit. For the fourth consecutive year, Gammet Interactive will present an innovative and affordable internet marketing educational opportunity designed specifically for the travel and tourism industry. The 2007 conference will cover all aspects of online travel trends and Web 2.0 initiatives, including user-centric web design; search marketing; blogging; podcasting; e-mail marketing; rich media; mobile marketing; RSS; Wikis; social networks and user generated content. Additional conference information and accommodation details are available at the conference registration site. For general information, contact Dave Serino at (734) 878-8800. Media Tip - Get on a Roll Make sure you don't miss out on one of our TV opportunities when we schedule segments on Michigan travel. Recently we did Memorial Day travel ideas on TV stations with b-roll to show tourists canoeing, kayaking, on the beaches, etc. We would like to have more footage available to help entice viewers to plan a Michigan vacation. Specifically, we are looking for more biking footage (all types of biking experiences), agritourism, camping, boating, sailing, kite flying, rock climbing, snowshoe and sledding, golf schools, culinary classes, bed & breakfast images, theme parks and water parks, sand dunes, events and festivals, and more. Please send an email to Kirsten Borgstom to let us know what you have available.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in partnership with Farmington Hills-based Digital 10 Network, Inc. has equipped all Lower Peninsula Welcome Centers south of Clare with multimedia broadcast systems just in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. All other centers will be equipped by the July 4th weekend. This new multimedia network provides travelers with up-to-the-minute advisories as well as exciting details about destinations and attractions around the state. This is a great opportunity for you to get your promotional message in front of nearly 9,000,000 annual Welcome Center visitors in a most cost effective manner. For more details about this opportunity, check out the Video Advertising Program (pdf 1.31mb), or contact Jim Lavender at (248) 755-4552, or Gene Brady at (248) 921-1295. For additional general information, contact Ron Marabate at (517) 241-7200.
Connect with an audience that values time with friends, family, luxury indulgences and leisure getaways! Reach Midwest subscribers of the highly successful O, The Oprah Magazine in the October 2007 "Girlfriends Getaway" special travel section that includes a special Michigan Coop at a discounted rate. Space reservation for this issue closes on June 12th. For additional information, contact Joan Sharp at (800) 785-4833. Hotel Occupancy in Michigan, April 2007 Report The latest report from Smith Travel Research on the performance of the U.S. lodging industry shows occupancy in Michigan fell slightly in 2007. The April occupancy rate for Michigan was 48.6%, below the national average of 64.0% but above a number of other states. This is in contrast to the last-place standing Michigan held at the end of 2006. With an occupancy rate of 48.6% for the month of April 2007, Michigan fell 0.3% over the same month last year when its occupancy stood at 48.8%. U.S. occupancy at 64.0% was 1.1% lower than April of last year. Year-to-date occupancy in Michigan stood at 48.5%, 2.2% lower than the same period last year and the 4th lowest year-to-date occupancy for all states. While relatively low, this performance is somewhat better than the past two years when Michigan's occupancy rates were at, or near, the bottom for nearly three years running. Year-to-date occupancy in the U.S. stood at 60.7%, 0.9% lower than last year. The Detroit area is performing somewhat better than Michigan as a whole. By the end of 2006, Detroit had ranked 25th among the 25 largest U.S. metro markets in occupancy. But for the fourth month of 2007, Detroit occupancy grew by 3.5%, though it is still tied for 24th with a year-to-date occupancy rate of 55.6%. This was same year-to-date occupancy as last year at this time. While U.S. occupancy was 60.7%, the top 25 markets together (including Detroit) stood at 67.7%, 0.7% below April of 2006.
Source: Smith Travel Research is based in Hendersonville, TN. They have collected monthly and daily operating data and reported on the state of the lodging industry for 20 years. Currently over 23,000 hotels in the U.S. participate in its monthly survey. For more information, contact Dave Morris at (517) 373-0673. Parks and Recreation Green Initiatives State parks, recreation areas and state harbors are going green with a series of initiatives to promote environmentally-friendly management practices and products. The pilot-projects include building more energy efficient facilities, growing more while mowing less, cleaning more with green-certified cleaning products, and utilizing more bio-diesel fuel in park machinery. These programs help protect and preserve the natural resources in the state park and recreation system. For more information on the current Green Initiatives please visit the State of Michigan's Green Initiatives web site. Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program The Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program is intended to organize efforts of the turfgrass industry, state agencies, Michigan State University (MSU), and environmental advocacy groups to recognize and award environmental achievements. There are currently more than 220 participating courses in Michigan, doing their part to protect water resources, promote native vegetation, and enhance wildlife habitat on golf course properties. The program was developed at MSU with support from the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation, Golf Association of Michigan, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Michigan Department of Agriculture to help golf courses comply with environmental laws. For more information, contact Debbie Swartz at (517) 355-0271, ex. 1145. Michigan Clean Marina Program As a pledging partner in the Clean Marina Program, marinas pledge to do their part to improve and maintain Michigan's waterways by reducing and eliminating releases and discharges of harmful pollutants, sediments, nutrients, general refuse and anything else that can damage aquatic environments. Marinas also pledge to strive for continuous improvement in daily environmental stewardship practices. Benefits of becoming a Clean Marina include reducing pollution and improving water quality in the Great Lakes region, protecting fish and wildlife habitat, enhancing public image by promoting environmentally-sound practices and saving money by adopting cost-effective best management practices. For more information, contact Jeff Spencer at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality at (517) 241-5719. Chicago Travel Expo Plan to exhibit at the Adventures in Travel Expo (ATE), which is schedule to take place on January 26-27, 2008, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Chicago. The largest active and adventure travel marketplace in the Midwest attracts over 11,700 consumers and travel trade professionals. In just two days you'll have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with ATE's highly qualified travel audience-consumers seeking regional vacation trips to the great state of Michigan. Not your average travel show, ATE is known for creating an experience through interactive attractions, informative travel seminars and cultural performances--all with one purpose in mind-to highlight our exhibitor's destinations. Special Michigan pavilion rate is $2,850 (regularly $3,150) and includes a 10 x 10 booth with a basic furnishings package, exhibitor listing in the Chicago Tribune newspaper supplement, and a description in the 2008 Active and Adventure Directory. Don't miss this great opportunity to come together and promote Michigan Tourism--reserve your booth today! For more information, contact John Spooner at (203) 878-2577, ex. 121. In the News
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