Experts Seek Local Ideas for State Tourism Plan
Team Drafting First-Ever Strategy To Guide Travel Industry in Mich.
By Ellen Paquin

While Michigan has some of the best natural resources and most attractive tourism draws in the nation, experts say, one thing has been overlooked in the drive to capitalize on those advantages: a solid strategy to guide the growth of the state's $16 to $17 billion tourism industry. A team of planners from Michigan State University (MSU) and Travel Michigan are now working together to develop the first-ever comprehensive plan for guiding Michigan tourism, and they are inviting local people to help shape the statewide plan at a conference Thursday, June 1, at Sault Ste. Marie.

Called a listening session, the conference is slated for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Spruce Room of Kewadin Casino Hotel. The "listening" will be done by the tourism experts, who want to know what trends and needs people have seen as they work at hotels, attractions, campgrounds, parks, and Chambers of Commerce and Visitors Bureau offices around the state.

"We are calling this a plan for the industry, by the industry," Dr. Don Holocek told The St. Ignace News Friday, May 19. Dr. Holocek is the director of Michigan State University's Tourism Center, and one of the organizers of the project who will attend the Sault Ste. Marie session. He also leads a research team that has been tracking traffic trends on the Mackinac Bridge for 20 years as one indicator of the health of the Upper Peninsula's tourism industry.

"This is an industry-supported project," Dr. Holocek said of the Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan Project. "We have formed an 80member council of people who are working on a comprehensive, statewide tourism plan, and we are going around the state to seek feedback about priorities of the industry."

The conference will be open to the public, Dr. Holocek said, and will be of particular interest to "anyone who has ties to travel and tourism, economic development, hoteliers, restaurant owners, and planners." No reservations are required to attend, and the session is free of charge.

A conference has already been held in Iron Mountain to gather information from the western end of the Upper Peninsula, he said, and more sessions are planned in Traverse City, Alpena, Battle Creek, Dearborn, and the Saginaw area in early summer. When the listening sessions are concluded, results will be compiled and the researchers will form teams in Lansing to tackle industry concerns like funding, promotion, and hospitality training, Dr. Holocek explained.

Once a final plan is drafted, it will be presented at a state-wide Tourism Industry Summit.

Noting that such a plan has been proposed by experts in the state since 1945, research cited by the MSU team shows that tourism has not been an economic development priority in Michigan. Travel promotion budgets have been dwindling over the years at the state level. When ranked with other states in order of overall budget of the state tourism office, Michigan came in 31st last year. In 1990, it ranked 7th among all states, and 12th in 1995, 20th in 2000, and 27th in 2004, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.

Now industry experts want to use the upcoming listening sessions and other research to identify the industry's shortcomings and, for the first time, coordinate a strategy for working together to capture more of this fiercely competitive market. And researchers say the time is right for the idea to find support in state government. In his online report about the project, Dr. Holocek points to the passage of post-Labor Day school opening legislation as evidence that state political leaders recognize the importance of tourism in the economy, and are ready to "favorably consider" a plan by the industry to define its goals.

The full cost of developing the Strategic Plan project is estimated at $400,000. About half of that amount will be contributed by MSU and the state's Travel Michigan agency in the form of reassigned faculty and staff. Supporters in the tourism field have raised about $35,000 to get the project started, and the industry should plan to spend about $165,000 more for research to craft the comprehensive plan, according to Dr. Holocek.

Several steps have already been taken, including the creation of the 80-person plan development team. Raising operating funds, assigning roles to various participating agencies, and launching a Web site will be among the next steps in the proposed project.

Experts believe Michigan tourism shows strong potential to become a thriving force in the economy. They point to the amount of money Michigan travelers spend elsewhere and the recovery of a parallel field, the nation's travel industry, as indicators of that potential.

Researchers report that Michigan has a large travel trade deficit, meaning state residents spend almost $3 billion more per year on out-of-state trips than nonresidents spend on Michigan trips.

The U.S. travel industry has fully recovered from the terrorism attacks of 9/11 and the last recession, while the industry in Michigan has not recovered, according to Dr. Holocek's online report. Contrary to what tourism workers may be seeing in Michigan, the tourism industry on the whole is actually one of the world's largest industries and is growing rapidly - not dying.

Dr. Holocek pointed out that the state has been challenged by the long-term decline of the auto industry, slow growth in segments of the population that have been traditional markets for Michigan travel, and a sluggish overall economy. Some of the changes that have triggered the major structural change in Michigan's economy also threaten wallets across Michigan's primary tourism markets in Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

"We have some challenges," Dr. Holocek said. "This plan should help us to mitigate them."

More information about the Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan Project is available online at www.tourismcenter.msu.edu.