I think the article was overly negative. There are hard times everywhere, including the Yoop. This is a hard one to write about as I am optimistic about our long term future here while at the same time I feel the pain and am sympathetic to those that will not be able to overcome this current hardship. In any change of economy, there are always a number of people, for various reasons, cannot move into whatever comes next.
Fuel prices seem to drive everyone down, not just tourism. I think we often make it into more than it really is. I live in Ontonagon. If you assume that most vehicles can get 350 miles on a tank of gas (I think that is reasonable), if you live in the north 2/3 of the Lower Peninsula, all of Wisconsin, 2/3 of Minnesota, and even the north most part of Illinois....you can come to my neck of the woods on a single tank of fuel. With gas being about a buck a gallon more than last year and even with a large fuel tank, you are not talking about it breaking the bank (for those that have enough extra to even be contemplating a trip). Easy to make up that kind of money by packing a sack lunch to work for a couple days instead of going out.
dcsnomo has it pegged in that we need to attract new tourists to the area, the population is easily there. We do have a promotion strategy to do this, http://thewildsofmichigan.com/ is part of that plan. I am not sure a room tax would help our situation out, there are many facilities that cater to tourists but are below the radar. I suspect that a good number do not even pay sales tax (required by the state) for room rentals as it is.
Another angle some of us are trying to connect with is "experiential tourism". This is sort of similar to "active tourism" except Mother Nature is not the tour guide, people are. Things like the mine tours in Greenland (the Caledonia actually lets you dig for copper) and Old Victoria Restoration site in Rockland are a couple examples where you can come and participate in some historical activity...you build your trip around these things. Better than Disney or a cruise, no lines and much more relaxing....and less expensive.
I am constantly told that tourism cannot be the foundation for an economy as it only creates low end jobs. I say there is much more to tourism than just the low pay service jobs. Tourism encourages entrepreneurism which often provides business owners with a much higher quality of life than a factory job. It requires a change in mentality....one does not have to work for someone else to have a good job. There are entire regions that have done and continue to do well on tourism (Orlando, Vegas, Branson). I dont buy that there are no well off people in those areas.
As far as technology lagging behind, many areas up here do not. We have high speed cable internet here in Rockland, Mass City, Ontonagon. DSL is available to just about everyone else around here at least. Cell coverage has some weak areas but that is directly linked to areas that are mostly unpopulated (and even those areas are adding towers each year now, at&t is adding dozens and dozens of towers this year in the yoop, verizon did a bunch last year). Technology allows for wireless coverage around your home with devices such as a Microcell at a very reasonable cost.
All that said, we have a long way to go. It was pointed out to me a while back that most advertising of the yoop shows some beautiful picture...but no people. To broaden our appeal, we need to show that there are people on the beaches and in the villages. Not every area wants to become a Marquette or Houghton, but these cities show it can be done and are valuable resources to those of us a bit further off the beaten trail.
Hard times, yes..real hard. Doom and gloom...none here.
Fuel prices seem to drive everyone down, not just tourism. I think we often make it into more than it really is. I live in Ontonagon. If you assume that most vehicles can get 350 miles on a tank of gas (I think that is reasonable), if you live in the north 2/3 of the Lower Peninsula, all of Wisconsin, 2/3 of Minnesota, and even the north most part of Illinois....you can come to my neck of the woods on a single tank of fuel. With gas being about a buck a gallon more than last year and even with a large fuel tank, you are not talking about it breaking the bank (for those that have enough extra to even be contemplating a trip). Easy to make up that kind of money by packing a sack lunch to work for a couple days instead of going out.
dcsnomo has it pegged in that we need to attract new tourists to the area, the population is easily there. We do have a promotion strategy to do this, http://thewildsofmichigan.com/ is part of that plan. I am not sure a room tax would help our situation out, there are many facilities that cater to tourists but are below the radar. I suspect that a good number do not even pay sales tax (required by the state) for room rentals as it is.
Another angle some of us are trying to connect with is "experiential tourism". This is sort of similar to "active tourism" except Mother Nature is not the tour guide, people are. Things like the mine tours in Greenland (the Caledonia actually lets you dig for copper) and Old Victoria Restoration site in Rockland are a couple examples where you can come and participate in some historical activity...you build your trip around these things. Better than Disney or a cruise, no lines and much more relaxing....and less expensive.
I am constantly told that tourism cannot be the foundation for an economy as it only creates low end jobs. I say there is much more to tourism than just the low pay service jobs. Tourism encourages entrepreneurism which often provides business owners with a much higher quality of life than a factory job. It requires a change in mentality....one does not have to work for someone else to have a good job. There are entire regions that have done and continue to do well on tourism (Orlando, Vegas, Branson). I dont buy that there are no well off people in those areas.
As far as technology lagging behind, many areas up here do not. We have high speed cable internet here in Rockland, Mass City, Ontonagon. DSL is available to just about everyone else around here at least. Cell coverage has some weak areas but that is directly linked to areas that are mostly unpopulated (and even those areas are adding towers each year now, at&t is adding dozens and dozens of towers this year in the yoop, verizon did a bunch last year). Technology allows for wireless coverage around your home with devices such as a Microcell at a very reasonable cost.
All that said, we have a long way to go. It was pointed out to me a while back that most advertising of the yoop shows some beautiful picture...but no people. To broaden our appeal, we need to show that there are people on the beaches and in the villages. Not every area wants to become a Marquette or Houghton, but these cities show it can be done and are valuable resources to those of us a bit further off the beaten trail.
Hard times, yes..real hard. Doom and gloom...none here.