Pure Michigan Campaign Goes Dark
You won't hear those popular Pure Michigan ads this fall. Travel Michigan says the 2010 fall advertising campaign has been cancelled due to budget cuts in Lansing.
Travel Michigan Vice President George Zimmerman said they didn't want to cancel the fall campaign, but they had no choice. He says it's a major blow to Michigan's tourism related business, and will also mean reduced state tax collections.
Boosters cite studies that show the Pure Michigan campaign resulted in 680,000 new trips to Michigan from outside the Great Lakes area.
Those visitors spent $250 million at Michigan businesses last summer as a result of the ad campaign.
It's the first time since 2005 Michigan tourism hasn't had a fall advertising campaign. About $1.7 million was spent on fall advertising in 2009.
The Pure Michigan promotion budget for 2010 is about $17 million. That's down from $28 million in 2009. The agency said it plans to focuse its smaller budget on a national TV campaign for the summer tourism season.
(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
