03/29/2006

Michigan tourists traveled less, spent more in '05

By bill o'brien

bobrien@record-eagle.com

MOUNT PLEASANT — Tourists traveled less but spent more in Michigan last year, state tourism analysts reported at the Driving Tourism 2006 conference.

Travel volume fell around 2 percent last year but tourism spending increased around 4 percent, according to research from the Tourism Resource Center at Michigan State University presented Tuesday to around 250 industry representatives.

"Last year we thought we were finally going to turn the corner ... we actually saw a slight decline in travel," said Don Holecek, tourism center director. "So we were half-right last year."

State analysts said 2005 was a mixed bag for tourism. Highway traffic counts around Michigan were down around two percent, and state park overnight stays dropped almost 5 percent from 2004.

But room assessments in northern lower Michigan from convention and visitor bureaus increased 6.5 percent last year, and statewide the increase was almost five percent, despite a 20-plus percent increase in gas prices.

Officials said high gas prices may have resulted in tourists traveling fewer miles but spending more on the trips they took.

Holecek said tourism activities across the country "flattened out" after 2001, but bounced back elsewhere in the U.S. faster than Michigan due to the state's high unemployment and struggling economy.

"We're improving, but it's painfully slow compared to what's going on nationally," Holecek said.

In 2006, the MSU research team anticipates a 1-to-2 percent increase in Michigan's travel volume, and a 4-to-5 percent increase in travel spending.

"This is the underlying thing that's saving us- people still like to travel," Holecek said.

National travel expenditures total almost $600 billion a year, compared to around $17.5 billion in Michigan.

A national travel analyst said while new hotel rooms and occupancy rates have slowed over the past decade, the tourism industry is maintaining profits through steady increases in room rates.

National hotel occupancy rates were around 63 percent last year — about 10 percent higher than Michigan's average.

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