Colorful leaves and colorful wines. According to tourism experts in northern Michigan, those two things are going to sustain the region’s dramatic fall tourism growth.
The beginning of the summer tourism season in northern Michigan was sluggish because of frigid temps and rain. It rebounded well and those in the tourism industry hope it will continue into the fall.
Carlin Smith is the President of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce. He said thanks to increased marketing and the area’s wine industry, fall is becoming a tourist season to reckon with.
“Fall was very much a shoulder season and a quieter season. And in the last, really, few years, we’ve really noticed an uptick in fall travel. And it’s now strong and we now in-fact maintain our six days a week operation through October now just to accommodate the fall travellers.”
Smith said he still considers the region’s wine industry as ‘emerging’ - compared to markets in California or Oregon. But he said it’s clear wineries are helping to put northern Michigan on the map.