Friday was the ribbon-cutting for Central U.P. Visitor Center
MUNISING -- Boasting beautiful Pictured Rocks, the Munising area is a tourist mecca in the Upper Peninsula.
Tourists bring in cash; that cash changes hands and the local economy prospers. A new Munising business hopes to be a tourism hub.
ExploreMunising.com is a one stop shop for all things "Munising." Need a hotel? ExploreMunising.com. Need to find the nearest ATM? ExploreMunising.com. Interested in local art? ExploreMunising.com. The Web site receives 17,000 unique visits each month. Now what's interesting about Explore Munising is that it's not a governmental agency. It's a for-profit company owned by Brenda Kelley. The Web site has been such a hit over the last two-and-a-half years that Brenda decided it was time for a home base for Explore Munising.
Welcome to the Central U.P. Visitor Center. How can the visitor center help you?
"Are they new to the area? Is this their first time? Is there anything specifically that they're looking for? And then we're going to show them some of the unique natural features/wonders of the area," explains Kelley.
Passers-by are calling it the yellow building next to Hardees, and in fairness, it is the yellow building next to Hardees. But what's inside this colorful structure is all the tourist information you could dream of, covering everything east of Marquette in the U.P.
Several dozen people stopped by for the grand opening, everyone from local business owners to representatives for Governor Granholm and State Representative Lindberg. The visitor center employs four people total, including Brenda and her husband. And it provides constant cash-flow through the area. Advertisers pay Brenda, Brenda gets businesses...well...business. You get the idea.
"Advertisers have different levels that they pay to be on the Web site. After that, we have what we call our new Rent-a-Rack program. And so people can pay a small fee and they're able to put their information in the racks. So that's how we're supported is by our members," Kelley says.
I mentioned earlier the local artists on the Web site. These local artists also decorate the walls of the new visitor center, and all their work is for sale.
"It's wonderful because now I get to show my work, not only to the people of Munising, but also to all the visitors who come up through the Central Upper Peninsula.
Businesses helping businesses--that's what Explore Munising and the visitor center are all about.
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