Come on, take a snow day

Pure Michigan encourages travelers to explore the Great Lakes state

There is a misconception in the U.S. that vacation days should be stock piled away for warmer weather. Pure Michigan is challenging these negative perceptions about winter and working to grow winter tourism and the economic impact it generates in the state.

Last year, winter tourism helped generate $2.8 billion in traveler spending in Michigan, highlighting the year-long economic impact of the Pure Michigan campaign. Many industries, such as ski resorts and snowmobile shops, depend on a successful winter tourism season as their primary source of revenue for the year. When these industries are thriving, the economic impact has a “snowball” effect that benefits the local community as well.

In addition to a winter advertising campaign focusing on regional and in-state markets and featuring TV and radio spots, billboards and a mix of digital marketing, Pure Michigan has spent the cold weather season encouraging travelers to take a Pure Michigan Snow Day.

According to Project: Time Off and the U.S. Travel Association, more than 429 million vacation days go unused in the U.S. each year. Pure Michigan wants to inspire people to take advantage of those unused vacation days by channeling their inner child, heading to the great outdoors and reliving the thrill of a Pure Michigan Snow Day.

Michigan is a premier winter getaway because of its abundant snow, post-card scenery and impressive catalogue of winter offerings. It is second in the nation for ski areas that range in difficulty from family-friendly bunny hills to the tallest vertical drop in the Midwest at Mt. Bohemia.

Michigan is one of the nation’s top snowmobiling destinations, providing riders with more than 6,500 miles of groomed trails winding through state and national forests, and offers 3,000 miles of cross country skiing trails and beautiful terrain for snowshoeing.

Winter recreation isn’t the only reason to visit Michigan during the cold-weather months. Major events, including the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the UP 200 in Marquette, the I-500 in Sault Ste. Marie and Gilda’s Laugh Fest in Grand Rapids provide the perfect opportunity to take a winter getaway. These high profile winter events also help drive millions of dollars of economic impact for local communities every year.

Get inspired to plan you winter getaway by visiting michigan.org/ or share your adventures using the #PureMichiganSnowDay hashtag.

To keep the flurries flying, Pure Michigan is calling on people across the state to get into the winter spirit and share their snow day dance.

This time-honored tradition has been used by kids for generations to inspire Mother Nature to work her winter magic and send them enough powdery white snow to cancel school. People can share their snow dance moves by uploading their video at michigan.org/snowdaydance or by posting it on Instagram using the hashtags #PureMichigan and #MiSnowDayDance.

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