Mackinac Island is pledging continued partnership with Michigan.org, a state-operated tourism Web site, that plans to put more emphasis on regional marketing and attract more out-ofstate visitors to the area this winter. The new focus will be complimented by a $30 million national advertising campaign by the state's Pure Michigan program.

Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau has been raising $75,000 from Island businesses to join Travel Michigan's Web site as one of its "featured destinations." To be matched by the state, the money will target Mackinac Island to regional markets, such as Chicago, and give the island its own page on Michigan.org to promote videos, photographs, tour packages, and visitor information, said Tourism Bureau President Bob Benser

"Mackinac Island will be featured front and center," he said.

Sault Ste. Marie and many communities on the state's west coast from the Indiana border to Grand Rapids, which collectively are promoting themselves as Harbor Country and Beachtowns, are also featured destinations on the main page of the Web site, which features the Mackinac Bridge in the background.

Mackinac Island will look to travelers close enough to make it to the Straits of Mackinac on a full tank of gas.

The Pure Michigan campaign budget of $30 million is the largest appropriation in the past two decades, Mr. Benser said, and is up from only $13 milion last year. A series of Pure Michigan television ads shows off the state's features to viewers in other parts of the country.

Michigan.org is the top state tourism Web site in the nation in terms of hits, drawing 1.7 million in July, according to Travel Michigan.

Before the appropriation, Michigan ranked in the mid-30s out of 50 states in tourism campaign funding.

It now trails only Hawaii ($85 million), Texas ($63 million), California ($58 million), Illinois ($50 million), Florida ($42 million), and Pennsylvania ($32 million) in tourism promotion spending.

The national advertising campaign began Wednesday, October 1, and the impact may be felt as early as this winter for Mackinac Island, said Dan Musser, Grand Hotel president, who testified before the state senate appropriations committee last month, advocating a permanent investment from the state in the Pure Michigan campaign, a tourism marketing strategy that started last year.

Many hoteliers from the Mackinaw City area, including a representative from the Mackinaw Area Tourism Bureau, were among the many supporters of the Pure Michigan campaign who also attended the hearing.

"This is really two-fold because we have good advertisements ready to go, we have significant money into targeted market places, and now we're spreading out nationally," said Mr. Musser. "Basically, what I testified is that it would be a waste if the state were to back off now."

His testimony was backed by a study that shows that for every dollar spent on promoting tourism in Michigan, the state received more than double that in sales taxes.

The state has much to improve on. Aside from its high unemployment rate, Michigan is the lowest state in hotel occupancy, according to Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association.

Retail shops may have done even worse, Mr. Musser said.

"What guests were spending was way down, we've noticed. Not many of them were buying wine or shopping in our stores as much."

Local retail stores and boat lines in St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, still struggling with high diesel fuel prices, have been hurt the most by declining tourism because of fewer day visitors. Of those who come and stay in the area, many limit themselves to maybe one item to purchase, said Mr. Musser.

Island hotels, he said, held their own this summer compared to the rest of the state.

The Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau hopes its renewed partnership with Travel Michigan will give the Island the boost in tourism it needs during the recession.

Because of insufficient funds, Mackinac Island, like the Les Cheneaux Islands, Mackinaw City, and St. Ignace, could only participate in a limited capacity in the Pure Michigan campaign last year, Mr. Benser said.

For Les Cheneaux, St. Ignace, and Mackinaw City, with limited advertising budgets, the Pure Michigan campaign is an important asset to drawing new tourists to the area, he said.

In St. Ignace, even though limited funding doesn't allow promoters to purchase the "featured" designation on the site, the boost in funding should help marketing efforts, said Visitors Bureau Director Lynne Piippo.

"We really appreciate that campaign. People who live in cornfields and concrete cities are just astounded by the views that we see here every day while we're hanging our laundry on the line," said Mrs. Piippo, referring to viewers of the television ads. The campaign's depiction of Michigan supplements local promotion efforts, she said.

"Through its Pure Michigan campaign, the state has provided many free opportunities to include our community's events and businesses on its Web site, which serves as a window to Michigan, allowing out-of-state visitors to take a peek at what we have to offer," said Amy Polk, commerce and tourism coordinator for Les Cheneaux Islands Area Tourist Association. "Our budget is very limited, so the opportunities we have through Pure Michigan are vital to maintain and expand our marketing."

In Mackinaw City, Mackinaw Area Tourism Bureau is hiking its advertising spending another 10% for next year, and is reaching out to new markets such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis, said its board chairman, Bill Bertchinger, who is hoping his agency's efforts, combined with the Pure Michigan campaign, will result in major payoffs for tourism next year.

"We've been monitoring the Pure Michigan campaign and we think it is a vital tool for all of us," he said.

Besides offering cost-share marketing opportunities, Travel Michigan sends tourism organizations leads from people seeking information about a region. Ms. Polk said this has resulted in two to six inquires to her office a week.

Travel Michigan, in cooperation with Midwest Living magazine, has also assigned and paid for writers and photographers to cover the Eastern Upper Peninsula for an upcoming Michigan Travel Ideas magazine that is published annually in association with Midwest Living. One million copies will be printed and paid for by Travel Michigan and will be distributed throughout the Midwest and beyond.

Michigan.org also allows events to be posted, free of charge, provides staff to assist tourist organizations with adding material onto the Web site, and offers a page that has a listing of other Web sites with the latest in tourism industry news.