Tourism and the Upper Midwest - flight of the summer birds (how much, houses)

[OyCrumbler]

The East Coast and the South swelter over the summer, the Midwest is decidedly cooler but still hot enough for it to get the summer feeling right. Is there much effort being put into touting the great cities of the Midwest as a summer destination? Can a lot more be done?

Also, how much effort is being put into winter tourism where it's fun to experience snow for a few days (for those not used to it) and have a truly white Christmas without dreading how long and dreary the winter will be?

[LINative]

I would say that in the summer most people want to GET AWAY from the cities, not to go to the cities lol. In the Midwest, people go to vacation houses along the lakes and up in the North Woods. The Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) are almost perfect vacation destinations for people who want to get away from the cities in the summer.

That said, of the Midwestern cities, Chicago with its beaches and pier, seems to be the best set up for summer visiting. Cleveland is also trying to build up a harbor area (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), whether this is enough, time will tell.

As for winter activites, I can see many locals going to the Upper Midwest for things like snowmobiles, hockey, cross country trails and ice fishing.. There are some hills for skiing but it is limited of course compared to either the Rockies or the Appalachians. Because of this, I would say it would be harder to attract visitors from other regions to go skiing in say Wisconsin vs. Colorado or Vermont.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

The East Coast and the South swelter over the summer, the Midwest is decidedly cooler but still hot enough for it to get the summer feeling right. Is there much effort being put into touting the great cities of the Midwest as a summer destination? Can a lot more be done?

Also, how much effort is being put into winter tourism where it's fun to experience snow for a few days (for those not used to it) and have a truly white Christmas without dreading how long and dreary the winter will be?

Chicago is the third or fourth most visited city in the U.S. Tourism is the major industry of the Northwoods region too -- basically the upper half of Wisconsin and Michigan, and about the upper 2/3rds of Minnesota. They sell themselves as a four-seasons attraction, including winter (skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, etc.) But best I can tell, most of this tourism is regional; the visitors are from other parts of the upper Midwest, mostly residents of the major cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Twin Cities and Detroit. I don't know how aggressively they market outside the region. I think the Boundary Waters region on the Minnesota/Ontario border is one of the few areas that attracts significant numbers of tourists from outside the Midwest.

[DANNYY]

Realistically I don't have the statistics and haven'y bothered researching the information.

During the summer most city people, especially the younger crowd go to places near large lakes. Lake Geneva in Wisconsin is a great example of a popular tourist location during the summer months. I go there most summers myself, it gets very crowded.

The summer here people take advantage of the fact that the weather is nice out, it's nice and windy, beautiful lakes, and great air quality. The summer is a big thing for the Midwest, but I don't think people from other regions have extended out to coming to the Midwest as a summer get away because of the lack of beaches. Yes Chicago has beaches on Lake Michigan, and there some others around, but that doesn't cut it. Most people across the country would rather go to Florida or California for beaches domestically.

I know that they are advertising the natural beauty of the Midwest now, a few weeks ago when I was back in Austin during school in Texas, I saw a lot of commercials for Lake activities and out door activities in the state of Michigan. They were advertising how beautiful the natural surroundings there are in Michigan.

So we will have to see if more people take interest in the Midwest in the years to come for summer activities.

As for winters, yes I have heard of many people go to Chicago from Houston area for Christmas, but generally it's not a large crowd that does, I think the tourism for these months would be low, December up till New Years is their best bet to get people to come and experience the snow environment. After January, the winters are long and harsh for everybody, including the tourists. I mean, what is snow after Christmas supposed to feel like?

Just my $.02 on this topic.
- Danny

[NowInWI]

Wisconsin has a huge tourism industry. Admittedly, most of the regulars are from the Chicago area, but people from all over do come to visit. Door County is a beautiful area, and a huge draw. Lake Geneva draws a lot of regulars from Chicago. The lakes in northern Wisconsin have always been a popular vacation destination. Also, Madison is a great place to visit, with Taliesin (where Frank Lloyd Wright lived most of his life), a short drive away.

As far as Milwaukee, there is a ton to do, and people from outside Wisconsin come to do it. Summerfest is the biggest music festival in the country, and there is a festival almost every week-end during the summer. We're not talking small, insignificant festivals either - we're talking great festivals. The Milwaukee Art Museum along Lake Michigan is a big draw, as people are fascinated by the first structure built in the U.S. by Santiago Calatrava.

Also, this summer the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits along the shores of Lake Michigan will be a HUGE draw.

One should not assume that, since they haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Midwest in the summer, that other's don't visit. Trust me, they do. (By the way, there are celebrities with summer homes in the Minocqua area). I only mention this because there are so many people on this forum who seem to love celebrities.

[Bydand]

Right across the lake from "nowinWI" we see our fair share of tourism as well. A lot from the region (IL, IN, OH) but also plenty from the rest of the Country. I will see every week at least one license plate from every single State in the lower 48 and several a year from both AK and HI. For some strange reason there is a lot of CA and FL plates around every summer. Another odd one that we see a ton of for some reason is IA.

The ad campaign right now is the "Pure Michigan" ads and they are actually doing quite well.

[strivingnow]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

The East Coast and the South swelter over the summer, the Midwest is decidedly cooler but still hot enough for it to get the summer feeling right. Is there much effort being put into touting the great cities of the Midwest as a summer destination? Can a lot more be done?

Also, how much effort is being put into winter tourism where it's fun to experience snow for a few days (for those not used to it) and have a truly white Christmas without dreading how long and dreary the winter will be?

No, it can't be. Why would you want to go to a big industrial city to spend your summer anyway? Why?

And who would want to experience a winter in a big city? If anything you want to be close to the slopes, mountains etc.

There are plenty of alternatives offering much better both summer and winter outdorsy experiences minus the traffic, poor air quality and crowds... Brrrr.