EAST LANSING, Mich. - Labor Day weekend is traditionally the second busiest for Michigan's tourism industry, and results from a survey conducted by Michigan State University's Tourism Resource Center indicate traffic will be exceptionally heavy over the holiday weekend this year.
Nearly 20 percent of Michigan households are planning a trip of 50 miles or more from home over this Labor Day weekend. Only about 15 percent of Michigan households indicated that they took a Michigan trip over the Labor Day weekend in 2001. MSU's survey results also indicate that more people from adjacent states will be visiting Michigan destinations over the Labor Day holiday.
MSU researchers said the projected increase in Michigan travel this weekend extends a trend for households to travel by auto and to stay closer to home.
"This trend began after terrorism attacks on Sept. 11, but economic concerns have fueled it in recent months," said Don Holecek, director of the MSU Tourism Resource Center. "Relatively steady gasoline prices have reinforced households' tendency to travel by private vehicle, and safety and convenience concerns have diminished their interest in traveling by air."
While households appear to be spending less on travel this year than last, which is not good news for Michigan's tourism industry, the negative impact of reduced overall travel spending has been largely offset by the tendency of residents of Michigan and nearby states to spend their travel dollars in Michigan, Holecek said.
A marked reduction in business travel, especially by air, has had a serious negative economic impact on many urban destinations, including the Detroit metropolitan area. Increased drive-in leisure traffic, especially on weekends, has helped to offset lost business conference and meeting weekday traffic for urban tourism businesses, but full recovery for these businesses will not come until corporate bottom-lines become more positive.