By Jessica Mathews/news@whmi.com


The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is being felt throughout Michigan’s travel and tourism industry.

Dave Lorenz is Vice President of Travel Michigan, which is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Once things with the public health emergency calm down, Lorenz says it’s going to be important to invest in Michigan and help get people back to work and get the economy flowing again. Lorenz says the reality is that this is a temporary slowdown in our lifestyles and the economy will eventually rebound. He says people shouldn’t travel, stay home and get healthy. Lorenz says soon enough it will be time to go traveling and they encourage people to use this time to prepare for future trips.

As for the impact on the industry, Lorenz says there was a lot of debate this past year with the Legislature if it was appropriate to fund and market the Pure Michigan program. Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently vetoed committed funding for the campaign and made other budget cuts due to the ongoing crisis. Lorenz told WHMI travel and tourism is a multi-billion industry in Michigan and everyone is likely seeing that truth based on what’s happening. Lorenz pointed out the impact on the economy from everything happening right now because people can’t travel or go out. He says the travel and tourism industry is an integral part of the economy and when the time is right, people will be able to travel again and go back to work. Lorenz says one good thing that could come out of this bad situation is perhaps people will appreciate the industry a little bit more than they used to and maybe also give bigger tips to servers or others in the hospitality industry throughout the year.

Lorenz noted there are small business loans, grants and programs available, adding the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has done a great job working with administration to put together several programs to help small businesses. Meanwhile, Pure Michigan has gone virtual to provide alternative experiences while promoting social distance guidelines. Live cams of beaches and destinations across the state, as well as virtual tours of unique exhibits can be found through the provided web link and on various Pure Michigan social media channels.