LANSING, me. (WLNS) – It’s almost a year after the pandemic started, and Covid-19 has hit almost every industry imaginable – tourism is as badly hit as anything else.

On Wednesday, the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau released its annual report for 2020 and while it was worse than they could ever have predicted, there is reason to be optimistic.

“No trips, no events, no eating out, no gatherings,” said GLCVB President Julie Pingston.

With all of these things canceled, it will be a rough year for tourism.

“Unfortunately, our industry was the first and one of the hardest hit industries,” said Eric Sudol, a member of the GLCVB. “After a full year, our industry is still more than 50% lower than it was before the pandemic.”

In Mid-Michigan, the numbers were down dramatically across the board, and perhaps no statistic shows that is better than hotel occupancy.

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Nearly 200,000 recreational and hospitality jobs were lost in Michigan last year, according to the GLCVB. With the restaurant’s capacity slated to rise to 50 percent later this week, officials have hope.

“The optimism for the future is strong,” said Pingston.

This is partly because the stigma of travel is slowly changing, and Pure Michigan’s campaign is finding new ways to promote it.

“The message we all need to use is that you may not be ready to travel, but once you are sure you do safely,” said Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan.

And since the budget for “Pure Michigan” has dropped from $ 35 million to $ 15 million, this year they are not marketing nationally, but rather focusing on keeping the people in the state.

“We have to encourage people to go to places they have never been before,” said Lorenz. “Michigan has always been known as a great place for natural surroundings, but we also have great urban communities and experiences to offer.”

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