The number of web surfers looking for Michigan travel information at
michigan.org increased dramatically in 2003, Travel Michigan announced
today. Inquiries in 2003 to the state’s official web site for tourism
information rose 83.2 percent over web inquiries in 2002. More than 4
million web user sessions were recorded in 2003, up from the nearly 2.2 million the previous year. Some 50.9 percent of michigan.org web users were Michigan residents, while 49.1 percent inquired from out-of- state markets including Chicago, Indianapolis and Cleveland.

“We certainly view this as a positive indicator for leisure travel in
Michigan,” said George Zimmermann, Interim Chief Operating Officer for
the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Vice President of Travel Michigan. “We know from independent research that 67 percent of
consumers who use michigan.org for tourism information then travel to and within
Michigan.”

In addition, the tourism outlook for 2004 is upbeat, as reported in a
recent Travel Michigan survey of the Michigan tourism industry.
Consistent
with other reports, Michigan’s tourism industry is optimistic about this
year with more than 60 percent of the Michigan tourism businesses
surveyed
saying that 2004 will be better than 2003.

In addition to tracking web visitor sessions, Travel Michigan is now
able
to track all click-throughs from michigan.org to private sector web
sites.
This new web strategy implemented in 2003, ‘Lure and Link, Click and
Count,’ enables Travel Michigan to count and report the number of times
a web visitor clicks through from michigan.org to a Michigan tourism
business web site. In 2003, click-throughs from michigan.org to Michigan private sector travel industry web sites reached 2,341,624, an average
of 6,400 per day.

Consumer interest in Michigan as a vacation destination continues to
grow.
Michigan.org is the one-stop shop for Michigan travel information,
featuring more than 8,000 attractions, events, hotels, resorts,
restaurants and other tourism-related business. Visitors spend $15
billion
a year traveling Michigan, and that spending funds 188,000 jobs
statewide
and generates $868 million in state taxes.
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