Michigan’s tourism web site is bringing potential travellers to Michigan in record numbers. According to Hitwise michigan.org received the most traffic of any state tourism website in June. Specifically, michigan.org attracted 12.14 percent of all of the traffic to the 50 state tourism websites. Michigan.org was the only website of its kind to achieve a double-digit percentage of the traffic, with the next closest state tourism site attracting 5.43 percent in a custom analysis of http://www.michigan.org and the 49 other state tourism web sites.

Michigan.org also was number one during the previous two months and had hovered around the top spot previously. During January 2007 michigan.org ranked 3rd, February saw a rise to the 2nd position where the site remained during the month of March.

“Our new Pure Michigan marketing effort is stirring emotions and reminding travelers how a real vacation experience is supposed to be. The campaign is creating a buzz about http://www.michigan.org , and we are seeing phenomenal results,” said George Zimmermann, vice president of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “We know from independent research that 65 percent of consumers who use michigan.org for tourism information, then travel to and within Michigan. More web traffic means more business at Michigan destinations.”

The Pure Michigan campaign is intended to entice travelers to one place that still feels magic, mythic, authentic, untamed, unspoiled, uncompromised, timeless and true. It’s Pure Michigan. The campaign communicates to consumers what makes Michigan special and identifies experiences that you can’t find anywhere else. A television ad spotlighting Michigan’s world-class golf debuted in April, while the remainder of the campaign launched in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Ontario, Canada, plus in Michigan, in May. Pure Michigan commercials can be viewed online at http://www.michigan.org/travelads . Michigan.org has continued to show growth in number of visitors this year. Web surfers turned to the site 5.8 million times through June of 2007, up from 4.8-million during the same months of 2006, an increase of 21 percent.

Tourism is a vital industry in Michigan. Visitors spend $17.5 billion annually traveling in Michigan, generating $971 million in state taxes, and accounting for 193,000 jobs statewide.

Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is the State of Michigan’s official agency for the promotion of tourism. Travel Michigan markets the state’s tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For more information on traveling in the State of Michigan, visit the official travel web site at http://www.michigan.org .
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