The Challenge
Since becoming Agency of Record in 2011, Advance Travel & Tourism has partnered with Mackinac Island Tourism to increase awareness, drive economic impact for the island’s lodging and hospitality partners, and extend demand beyond the traditional peak season.
As travel behaviors evolved, maintaining momentum required more than repeating past success. The destination needed to reach new audiences, strengthen its national presence, and continue attracting higher-value overnight visitors from outside its traditional Midwest markets.
The Strategy
What began as a digital strategy in 2013 has evolved through ongoing collaboration between Mackinac Island Tourism and Advance Travel & Tourism.
Through joint branding and strategic planning sessions, Mackinac Island Tourism brings deep destination knowledge and a clear vision for the island, while Advance Travel & Tourism helps translate those priorities into an integrated marketing program. Together, the teams continually refine the strategy, evaluate new opportunities and respond to changes in traveler behavior. Today, the program includes display advertising, search, social media, content, video, email, SEO, OTT/CTV and Extended Reach.
In 2025, changing travel patterns presented a new opportunity. Mackinac Island Tourism developed the “Mackinac Island is Cool” concept, positioning the island as a refreshing summer escape with moderate temperatures. Together, Mackinac Island Tourism and Advance Travel & Tourism brought the concept to warmer markets seeking cooler destinations.
New tactics including SEO and OTT/CTV strengthened visibility, while expanded social campaigns also introduced new opportunities to connect with meetings and group audiences. As traveler behavior evolved, so did the strategy, allowing Mackinac Island to expand its reach and continue attracting high-value visitors.
By continually evolving the strategy together, Mackinac Island Tourism and Advance Travel & Tourism have helped sustain the destination’s long-term growth.
The Results
Outside of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mackinac Island has achieved 16 years of tourism growth, including four consecutive years of record tourism revenue from 2022 through 2025.
By attracting more out-of-state travelers, Mackinac Island increased overnight stays and strengthened overall economic impact. Out-of-state visitors average four nights on the island compared with three nights for Michigan travelers.
Targeted warm-weather markets experienced significant year-over-year growth in overnight visitation:
Growth in Targeted Warm-Weather Markets
+45%
overnight visitation from
Dallas
+42%
overnight visitation from
Phoenix
+41%
overnight visitation from
Fort Myers/Naples
Nashville
+33%
Orlando
+20%
Austin
+10%
Higher-Value Visitors
Out-of-state travelers average four nights on the island compared with three nights for in-state visitors.
a long record of growth
16 years of tourism growth outside the pandemic, including four consecutive record years from 2022–2025
National Recognition
As visitation and revenue continued to grow, Mackinac Island earned national recognition from some of the travel industry’s most respected publications.
Recent accolades include:
Creative Examples
Successful destination marketing isn’t built on a single campaign.
It’s built on the ability to evolve.
Since 2011, Mackinac Island Tourism and Advance Travel & Tourism have worked together to refine the destination’s strategy, embrace new channels and adapt to changing traveler behavior. What began as a digital initiative has grown into a collaborative, full-funnel marketing partnership that combines the DMO’s destination leadership with Advance Travel and Tourism’s audience, media and marketing expertise.
With more than 30% revenue growth since the partnership began, 16 years of growth outside the pandemic and four consecutive years of record tourism revenue, Mackinac Island’s success demonstrates what can happen when two teams continually evolve the strategy together.
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