The $10 million national campaign touting Michigan's tourist destinations that began March 30 is already gaining traction; during the campaign's first four weeks, traffic to the state's tourism Web site, michigan.org, was up 16 percent and page views were up 30 percent, compared with the same four weeks in 2008, a survey by the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association found.
Almost half (48 percent) of the Web site users in April had annual household incomes of $100,000 or more, compared to 17 percent in April 2008. Travel Michigan is targeting higher-income residents from farther away to come and spend their vacation dollars at hotels, shops and restaurants, said George Zimmermann, the agency's vice president.
MSU researchers predict that tourism will still be down overall because of the economy, but the advertising and low gas prices should help the state do better than the rest of the country.
In honor of the advertising campaign, and all the pretty green we are seeing lately, here is the ad "14 Clubs".