http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YbJjZkv6P8
(I'm partial to the Grand Rapids video... but there's lots more here.)
A new report shows the Pure Michigan campaign drove a record one billion dollars into the state’s economy last spring and summer. That’s almost twice as much as the spring and summer of 2010 (it was $605 million then).
“This is the biggest result ever for the campaign,” said George Zimmermann, director of the state’s tourism group, Travel Michigan. “The results just every year are a little better, little better; now this year is a pretty big jump,” George Zimmermann said.
The report only counted those who visited the state because of the Pure Michigan campaign. It covers the spring and summer months only. Those are the state’s heaviest travel seasons. It says the campaign attracted 3.2 million out-of-state visitors (that compares to 2 million in 2010).
The Pure Michigan campaign is paid for with state tax dollars. Zimmerman estimates the state got nearly $5 back for each $1 invested last year.
Comparing that $70 million with the $14.2 million spent on Pure Michigan summer out-of-state advertising last year, the state received $4.90 back for each dollar invested in Pure Michigan advertising in 2011. The cumulative return on investment since the Pure Michigan campaign began in 2006 is now $3.70, up from $3.29 last year.
Pure Michigan’s national ad budget in 2012 is $12 million.