LANSING – Tourism is booming in Michigan, according to a new study from Michigan State University released Tuesday. The study showed spending on tourism rose 8 percent in 2011 and will rise 6 percent this year.

“As long as the weather is good – and that’s always the big ‘if’ – I think we’re going to see a very strong year for tourism,” said Dan McCole, an MSU assistant professor of tourism, in a statement.

The study showed that tourism spending doubled MSU’s projection for 2011 last year even though the year was 3 percent cooler and 16 percent wetter than 2010. Spending projections are based on state sales tax and use tax collections.

The study also noted that hotel occupancy in 2011 was up 7 percent statewide and 10 percent in Detroit, marking the second straight year that Detroit saw the biggest gain of any of the 25 major metro markets.

McCole said researchers are watching the rise of gasoline prices for any potential impact on tourism.

“Gas prices will certainly change some people’s travel behaviors which will likely impact certain places more than others,” he said. “But we’re also finding that people are very protective of their vacations, so I don’t anticipate too many people canceling because of $4-per-gallon gas. Plus the people we’re expecting to travel this summer are doing pretty well financially and are better able to absorb the increase.”

The increase in tourism in 2011, according to a separate study released by state tourism officials, showed that there were more than 3.2 million visits to the state from out of state residents, which in turn led to an estimated $1 billion spent on businesses in the state.

The increase in total visits, according to the study from Longwoods International, meant a total of $70 million in taxes generated or $4.90 in taxes for every dollar the state spent on its Pure Michigan campaign.

In addition, the 3.2 million visits was more than a 50 percent increase over the number of visits from non-state residents in 2010. In 2011, it was estimated that 2 million of the visitors came from the Great Lakes region states and 1.2 million came from further origins, said officials with Travel Michigan.

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