To compensate for a dismal economy in Southeast Michigan, a five-county regional tourism promotion will target its advertising this summer to the three neighboring states of Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The campaign is building on successful marketing seen at Sault Ste. Marie, where out-of-state visitors now surpass in-state tourists.

The Great Waters marketing campaign promotes Mackinac, Chippewa, Luce, Alger, and Schoolcraft counties as vacation destinations at the crossroads where three of the five Great Lakes meet, but while Southeast Michigan sends many visitors to the U.P., the economic problems in Detroit mean that the Eastern Upper Peninsula needs to reach farther to attract visitors.

That was the message people heard in Cedarville last week from Linda Hoath, campaign chair and executive director of the Sault Ste. Marie Convention and Visitors Bureau. She said the Great Waters campaign will advertise in regions just beyond state borders, owing to the economic recession in Michigan.

"The out-of-state market is a better feeder market," she said. "Once they're here, they're going to love it. It's just getting them here."

The Great Waters campaign is operating in conjunction with Travel Michigan's Pure Michigan project to attract tourists to the state. Ms. Hoath said it is looking for participation from destination areas in the five counties to market the EUP region as a whole. Sault Ste. Marie, Manistique, Curtis, and Newberry have each contributed at least $4,000 to the campaign, she noted. Every participating municipality will receive an equal amount of exposure in the radio campaign planned for August, regardless of the amount contributed, she said.

Travel Michigan matches the dollar amount raised for this and similar campaigns participating in the project. The Great Waters campaign has raised $23,700 of the $30,000 it is looking for to advertise

out of state.

The Sault Ste. Marie visitors bureau is in its third year of marketing the city with Travel Michigan and has achieved much success, Ms. Hoath reported. The number of out-of-state tourists surpassed the number of instate tourists to Sault Ste. Marie last year, increasing from 30% to 58%. She attributes this directly to marketing with Travel Michigan.

She met Thursday, March 26, with a dozen Clark Township residents during a luncheon at Ang- Gio's restaurant in Cedarville to encourage the area to get involved with the campaign. The deadline for the fall campaign has already passed, but Mrs. Hudson said the Les Cheneaux area was given an informal two-week extension.

The monthly Choose Les Cheneaux luncheons are sponsored by the Les Cheneaux Community Forum and Clark Township to discuss economic development.

Luncheon organizer Linda Hudson said the area will apply for a grant from the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation and the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners in hopes they will contribute at least $5,000.

"We're starting to get the idea of collaboration and the idea of the bigger pie," she said. "The bigger the pot is, the more presence we'll have in the marketplace."

Amy Polk of the Les Cheneaux Tourist Association said her organization already has agreed to donate $200 toward the campaign.

The Pure Michigan Web site, www.michigan.org, is the most visited tourism site in the country, however, Michigan remains one of the lowest visited states, said Mrs. Hudson.

"If you look at the geography of the state," she noted, "you have to come here on purpose."

Choose Les Cheneaux luncheons are open to the pubic and are held the fourth Thursday of the month.