Michigan Tourism Strategic Plan – A Proposed Project

By Don Holecek, Director of the Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center at Michigan State University


Beginning with this issue, Michigan Tourism Business (MTB) has a new major focus which is on keeping readers informed about efforts just underway to develop a strategic development plan for Michigan’s tourism industry.  In this column, I will focus on the following:

• Why the industry needs a plan,
• Events leading to the decision to initiate the planning process,
• Guiding principles for plan development,
• Steps in the planning process, and
• How you can become involved.
   

Why Does the Industry Need a Plan?

When this Center was established at Michigan State University in 1985, its tourism industry advisory committee emphasized that there was a pressing need for access to better information about the health, vitality, and potential of the industry.  At the time, data were not readily available to assess past, current, and probable future conditions across the industry.  Then, as now, the auto industry was struggling and, along with it, the Michigan economy was spiraling downward. Creating new jobs and diversifying the Michigan economy were popular themes throughout both political circles and across the media.  This region of the country became known as the nation’s “rust belt”. For the first time since the auto industry came to dominate the Michigan economy and those of other states in the “rust belt,” tourism began to receive some attention within Michigan’s economic development community.  Unfortunately, the Michigan tourism industry had no plan to advance its potential as an engine for sustained economic growth, and the economic development spotlight soon turned to focus elsewhere, primarily on a revitalized auto industry.  Perhaps this was a missed opportunity to boost tourism and diversify the Michigan economy?

Today, the Michigan economy is once again in trouble, and its dependence on the sinking auto industry is amply evident. The tourism industry is also troubled due to its dependence on the “rust belt” region for the vast majority of its customers. But, this time around the industry is better prepared to cope with the challenges and, most importantly, the opportunities cast upon it.  

First, there is consensus across the industry that it has a problem; one that even the most optimistic among us don’t believe can be quickly resolved by the return of the auto industry to profitability.  When the auto industry rebounds, as I believe it will, it will be a very different - smaller and leaner - industry than it was previously.

Second, Michigan’s tourism industry is far more organized and has more human and fiscal resources to draw upon than it did twenty years ago.  Its capacity to set goals and achieve them is evident in two major successes this year: passage of post Labor Day schools legislation and garnering $15 million for Travel Michigan’s marketing efforts in the $2 billion jobs creation legislation signed into law this week.

Third, research conducted at MSU and Travel Michigan has generated a wealth of objective information about Michigan’s tourism industry, which wasn’t available twenty years ago.  We now know much more about our current and potential customers and how to market to them.  We have sound research to demonstrate that the state’s investment in tourism promotion generates more than $3.00 in state tax revenues for every state tax dollar invested in promotion.  And, we have access to twenty years of industry tracking data that establishes its performance over time, as well as its current status. Such data provides a strong foundation upon which to build a sound strategic development plan for the future.

Finally, we are the beneficiaries of technological developments which can be drawn upon to support plan development that didn’t exist twenty years ago.  For example, publishing this issue of MTB and distributing it to its nearly 4,000 readers would have required far more time and money in 1985 then it did in 2005.  Remember when we began a new letter by typing several drafts on the high tech instrument of the day—an IBM electric typewriter?  And, with final text in hand, eventually we moved to the design department for some visual enhancements.  Then we had to deal with a long line at the printer, type mailing labels, and deliver the finished product to the post office.  And, we often refer to these as the “good old days!”  Technology has certainly changed our lives, clearly for the better for purposes of developing this plan for Michigan’s tourism industry.

Arriving at the Decision to Develop a Plan

The need for a Michigan tourism development plan has been evident for a long time.  The 1945 legislation that created the Michigan Travel Commission states that a Master Plan should be created to guide the industry’s development.  Lori Langone brought this to our attention during the summer of 2004 when we started working on a proposal to develop a strategic development plan for Michigan’s tourism industry.  After “shopping around” the idea here on campus, with Travel Michigan, and with some industry leaders and receiving strong support, it was decided to formally present the proposal to the Travel Commission at its meeting in October in Kalamazoo.  The Commission voted to back the proposal and to assist in securing the funding necessary to implement it.  The PowerPoint slides presented at the Travel Commission meeting can be viewed on the Tourism Center’s website (www.tourismcenter.msu.edu – click on “Presentations”).

At this time, efforts are underway to secure the necessary funding.  The projected total cost of the project is $400,000. About half of project costs can be covered by reassigning faculty and staff from MSU and Travel Michigan to focus on the project.  The remaining half ($200,000) must be raised to cover other project operating costs (e.g. research, communications, consulting fees, travel, meetings, etc.).  To date, $25,000 of these operating funds have been committed by MSU sources and $10,000 by Travel Michigan.  The remainder ($165,000) is being requested from Michigan tourism industry sources.  A meeting was held with industry representatives from across the state on November 30, 2005 to discuss the plan for the project and how to secure the additional funds necessary to implement it.  Highlights from the discussion at the November 30, 2005 meeting, as well as other documents related to the project, including the current status of our fundraising effort, can be found on the Plan web page at www.tourismcenter.msu.edu/Plan.

Guiding Principles for Plan Development

Before outlining the proposed steps in the plan development process, it is useful to address the guiding principle that will be drawn upon in this planning effort.

First, this is to be a plan for the industry, developed by the industry.  In this case, MSU and Travel Michigan planning team leaders will draw upon their research and planning process expertise to guide the industry’s plan development effort, in cooperation with industry representatives.  Our willingness to engage in this effort in support of Michigan’s tourism industry is not purely altruistic since we, like most citizens in this state, stand to benefit from a plan that puts this industry on a path toward sustainable long-term growth.

Second, planning is often associated with efforts by “outsiders” (e.g. government) to impose control over local organizations and businesses.  There is no such agenda underlying this effort.  This will be a “grassroots” initiative; guided by the industry and funded largely by the industry.

Third, this plan will be built on a foundation of research supported facts.

Fourth, the premise for the project is that there are shared needs that can be identified, and then more effectively addressed, by the industry working in concert rather than independently.  In many cases, these needs will be common to most industry stakeholders.  These will be easy to capture in the plan.  Others are likely to be specific to a particular region or industry section.  Arriving at a consensus to include these more specific needs in the plan will be more difficult and will require demonstration of “statesmanship” on the part of industry leaders to be recognized in the plan.  The idea here is that everything in the plan will not benefit all stakeholders equally, but all stakeholders must perceive something in the plan that will benefit them.

Fifth, this will be an action plan that can be successfully implemented.  Recent experience with passage of Post Labor Day Schools Legislation and capturing $15 million in the jobs bill package for tourism promotion are strong evidence that this industry can set an action agenda and that our political leaders are prepared to act on the industry’s agenda.  The key element in each of these recent successes was that these actions were both broadly supported across the industry.  There is every reason to believe that a comprehensive strategic development plan with similar broad industry support will be well received by our elected officials.

Sixth, planning is a process, rather than an end in and of itself.  A central focus of this project is to incorporate a component in the plan to facilitate planning as an on-going process that is responsive to change over time.

Steps in the Planning Process

We have proposed the following twelve step process for developing a strategic plan for Michigan’s tourism industry:

1. CREATE a plan development team led by Michigan State University faculty and Travel Michigan staff.
2. EMPOWER the plan development team.
3. SECURE operating funds to support plan development.
4. SCHEDULE a plan development team meeting to refine the plan development strategy, assign roles and responsibilities, establish a time line; develop a communications strategy, develop an implementation strategy, and develop a monitoring and evaluation strategy.
5. DEVELOP and LAUNCH a communications vehicle (website; newsletter).
6. HOST a retreat on industry mapping/strategic issues identification (plan development team, plus selected industry leaders to be led by a specialized, outside consultant).
7. PREPARE an industry research report including: history, current status, and prospects.
8. INITIATE industry “listening” sessions, both face-to-face and online, prefaced with the results from the industry mapping and research report (five or six face-to-face sessions, geographically distributed to facilitate access, and online sessions (on-going during the listening session phase; updated to reflect new input, focuses, and research/market information).
9. HOLD development team meetings to draft the plan.
10. HOST an industry summit to present the draft plan and discuss an implementation strategy.
11. REFINE the plan and implementation strategy.
12. INITIATE the implementation strategy and a monitoring and evaluation system.
    

How You Can Become Involved?

We will strive to engage everyone who wants to be involved in the planning process.  Communication with the industry throughout the process is especially critical.  A communications system will be implemented that is accessible to all, via one of several modes including: 1. This newsletter, 2. Regular postings of reports, meeting minutes, and draft papers to a website, 3. Regional “listening” sessions, 4. Structured surveys, and 5. An industry “Summit” (once a draft plan has been developed).  And, of course, you can always contact us by phone, email, or by old fashioned “snail” mail.

We will also be adding industry representatives to the planning team to participate on a regular basis in our team meetings. They can also be contacted with suggestions you want to have considered during the plan development process.

At this time, we are beginning the critical fundraising phase of the project.  As noted above, we have secured slightly more than half of the needed funds.  The remaining $165,000 is a formidable sum of money.  Raising it need not be problematic if everyone in this industry contributes what they can afford to the cause.  The following funding level categories have been developed to recognize our funding partners:

            Founding Sponsors   $10,000 +

            Prime Sponsors   $5,000 – $9,999

            Cooperating Sponsors   $2,500 – $4,999

            Sponsors   $100 – $2,499

All individuals contributing $100 or more will be acknowledged in the final draft of the plan.  Founding, Prime, and Cooperating Sponsors will also be acknowledged in this newsletter, on the planning website, and in selected print materials prepared throughout the plan development process.

Contributing to the project is simple.  Visit the Plan web page at www.tourismcenter.msu.edu/Plan and download the Sponsor Form. Complete the form and return it with a check made out to Michigan State University. While at the web page, check out the additional information we have posted regarding progress on the project.