When it comes to geographic boundaries, there’s little overlap between Traverse City and Leelanau County. But when it comes to Northern Michigan’s brand as a tourist destination, the two are deeply intertwined — and getting more so every year.
Local tourism leaders see the relationship as a “rising tide floats all boats” situation, arguing that tourists to the area mean increased traffic, revenue, jobs, and year-round economic viability for the entire region. Meanwhile, Leland Township Supervisor Susan Och feels there is a growing feeling among Leelanau residents that the county is “bearing the brunt of regional tourism” without being included in regional tourism planning discussions or getting its fair share of the benefits.
Leelanau’s reputation as a tourist destination has been on the rise since Good Morning America named Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore “The Most Beautiful Place in America” in 2011. Since then, the park has seen a significant increase in attendance.
Sleeping Bear isn’t alone: In 2018, Time Money ranked Glen Arbor fourth on its list of the 20 best affordable places to visit. In December 2022, when Conde Nast Traveler promoted northern Michigan as one of the “23 Best Places to Visit in 2023,” the Leelanau hotspot was included on the list. And last week, The New York Times encouraged readers to spend “36 Hours in Traverse City,” with the majority of that time spent at Leelanau destinations.
Because of the reports, and a string of milder-than-normal winters, Ock said Leelanau’s small towns, like Leland, have seen a change in tourist traffic patterns. Leelanau towns used to be bustling in the summer but mostly dormant in the winter. But now these towns are becoming year-round tourist destinations, and that’s causing growing pains. Earlier this year, Ock told the Leelanau Ticker that there’s an increased demand for year-round public restrooms in Leland. That change would require replacing or renovating existing seasonal restrooms at the Port of Leland.
Ock worries that because of growth, the small town of Leelanau and its taxpaying residents are unfairly “bearing the brunt of local tourism.” Over the past few years, she has noticed an increase in anti-tourism sentiment among her constituents. One recent example is a post on a Facebook community page she overheard in Leelanau: “There, someone, maybe a bot, is asking what everyone’s favorite beach is. [in Leelanau County]. “
“Most people [in the comments to that post] “They’re complaining that this person is trying to write an article promoting our area, and they’re not happy about it,” Ock said.
One challenge, Ock said, is that the small town of Leelanau is a popular tourist destination, but doesn’t have many hotels. Many visitors to the county stay in short-term rentals nearby, but many also book hotels in Traverse City and then plan day trips to Leelanau.
“[There’s a] “The burden that comes with being a day-trip destination is having to provide parking, trash disposal, public restrooms, public safety, etc., for the day-trippers who are attracted by the hype of the area,” Ock said. “While we can’t prove where these people are staying, it does appear that Leelanau County’s tourist destinations are being used to fill hotel rooms in Traverse City.”
The situation has Ok wondering: “How long have we promoted the area enough?”
Meanwhile, Trevor Tkach, president and CEO of Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau (TCT), sees Leelanau County as a major asset and key partner in the effort to promote Northern Michigan.
“The average consumer isn’t border-conscious,” Tkach says, “When they’re coming to Traverse City from the south or out of state, they’re not just thinking about Traverse City. They’re more likely to think about the experience coming up north, and one of the great things about Traverse City is that it’s such a great hub-and-spoke experience. You have a lovely downtown space, but you can also go into the suburban areas and have a ton of really great experiences. And Leelanau doesn’t disappoint in that regard.”
Tkach also said it’s not as simple as “turning the marketing faucet on and off” based on which regions believe they have the infrastructure to manage visitor flows and which don’t.
“We do our best to tell local stories and adapt to what the market will tolerate, but it’s difficult to tailor a region-wide marketing strategy to the specific needs of each smaller community,” he explains. “Especially when we’re not seeing the visitor numbers we’d like, the question we usually get is, ‘Why aren’t you marketing more?’ This year, we’ve gotten that feedback more than ever before, as we just experienced a very harsh winter.”
What Leelanau County could do, Tkach said, is get more involved with the TCT as it plans its future tourism marketing. Currently, Leelanau is not included in the TCT’s assessment district, meaning most of the hotels that fund and have a say in the TCT’s existence are not in Leelanau County. The TCT is primarily managed by Grand Traverse County lodging companies, but in 2020, Benzie County joined the organization.
“They could set up a district,” Tkach said of the Leelanau accommodations. “If they could get more organized like that, I think that’s something we’d like to see and we could provide a lot more support.”
As Tkach points out, Leelanau currently has a single appraisal district formed by The Homestead, the county’s largest resort hotel.
“By comparison, Grand Traverse and Benzie counties have multiple fully established assessment districts that provide input to the TCT,” he said. These partnerships pool funds between districts and represent a “shared commitment to bringing together people who work in the travel and tourism sector to work together to solve problems and challenges.”
“So maybe Leelanau County, or even just Leland, could consider forming an assessment district and partnering with TCT,” Tkach said. “We would welcome that and I think that would address some of the infrastructure issues. Right now, Benzie County is putting money into the Frankfort restrooms on the shore. That’s a little bit of a challenge for them, but at the end of the day, it would create a new resource for the area because the tourism groups there are partnering with us.”
A longer version of this story appears in the June issue of Traverse City Business News.
