LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Pure Michigan campaign has been funded in the recently passed bipartisan state budget for Fiscal Year 2023.

There was $25 million included in the budget for the tourism campaign so that Michigan can be on minds of travelers who are looking for a wonderful place to live, work or take a vacation.

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Pure Michigan is a tourism campaign that was launched in 2008 on both TV and on the radio. It has featured the voices of Michigan’s Tim Allen and Jeff Daniels in the past and it presents Michigan locations all over the state.
The governor’s press release touts regional economic development and says “to spur economic development in every region of Michigan, including rural communities, the budget kicks off a ‘Buy Michigan’ campaign to support Michigan grown and raised products, funds the Pure Michigan campaign to promote tourism and boost local economies, and funds the Office of Rural Development, which was established by Governor Whitmer to focus on development in rural areas and provide support for food and agriculture businesses through economic development. These investments will uplift regional economies and create jobs in every corner of our state.”

Whitmer wasn’t quite so enamored with the Pure Michigan campaign in 2019 when the Republicans asked to fund it to the tune of $37.5 million but the governor vetoed the entire amount with a line-item veto.

In an interview with 9&10 News in 2019 after the campaign was cut, Traverse City Tourism President Trevor Tkach said that studies have shown a $10 return on investment for every dollar.

When the campaign launched in 2008, Governor Jennifer Granholm had approved a much larger chunk of money – $45 million in funding that came out of the 21st Century Jobs Trust Fund.