News Bite

Whitmer Says ‘Don’t Travel,’ State Agency Spends Tax Dollars Encouraging It

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is going to start a Pure Michigan tourism campaign this winter. The campaign is expected to start this month.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer advised the state’s residents not to travel for Christmas and beyond.

“We all know the next two months are going to be hard,” Whitmer said at her press conference. “Too many people traveled for Thanksgiving and we will see our numbers increase very likely because of it and that’ll coincide with the next big holiday, Christmas, and too many people are considering traveling and I’m reiterating please don’t. About four weeks after that, we will see the impact of that.”

Pure Michigan is a taxpayer-funded government marketing program that benefits the tourism industry. The Michigan Legislature authorized $15 million for it in the current fiscal year.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.