Pure Michigan campaign leads to tourism award
The award-winning and highly successful “Pure Michigan” ad campaign helped lead George Zimmermann to being named State Tourism Director of the Year for 2011 by The National Council of State Tourism Directors (NCSTD).
Zimmermann is the first Michigan tourism director to receive this recognition, and he is the only person to be awarded the honor twice. He previously won the award in 1997, while serving as Ohio’s director of tourism.
“During his tenure at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), George has led the team that created the award-winning Pure Michigan brand, taking the campaign to a national audience since 2009,” said Michael A. Finney, President and CEO of the MEDC. “These efforts have resulted in increased visitor spending at Michigan businesses, more jobs for Michiganders and more revenue for the state of Michigan.”
The campaign, created in 2006, has helped showcase Michigan as a national tourism destination.
Spending by out-of-state visitors in 2010 increased by 21 percent and surpassed that of Michigan residents for the first time. The travel and tourism industry generated US$17.2 billion in Michigan last year and helped create an estimated 152,600 jobs state-wide.
The NCSTD, an affiliate of the U.S. Travel Association, has recognized a State Tourism Director of the Year each year since 1970, “to honor a tourism director that has clearly influenced the obvious and measurable improvement of a state or territory's ‘travel and tourism profile’ with their leadership.”
“This award is particularly gratifying to me because it comes from my peers, the state tourism directors around the country,” said George Zimmermann, Vice President for Travel Michigan at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Zimmermann joined the MEDC as the Vice President for Travel Michigan in 2001. In addition, he is an officer, executive committee member and board member of the US Travel Association, and he serves on the US Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
By David Wilkening
David
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