Gas Prices Bad for U.P. Tourism Business
Andrew Norton
It goes without saying that when it costs you $40+ to fill up your car with $2.79/gal. gasoline you watch your driving habits a bit more closely. Perhaps you consolidate your errands or shop more from home online. The one thing high gas prices will definitely do is change where you will drive on your summer vacation. Michigan's Upper Peninsula is approximately 325 miles from where we live. That is roughly the number of miles we get on one tank of gas. You have to figure with stops along the way and any side trips plus the drive home you will be filling up at a minimum of three times.
So, just to get up to the U.P. and back home again you need to figure on a $150 to $200 budget just for gasoline. Add in meals, assorted souvineers, and lodging (or campsite fees) and you just bought a fairly expensive vacation to the pristine wilderness that is Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
I would gladly go to the U.P. for a vacation. It is beautiful and a lot less crowded than going to DisneyWorld. A lot of people won't though and that obviously concerns U.P. businesses that rely on summer tourism dollars.
Michigan's Upper Peninsula tourism industry would like you to remember how inexpensive it is to enjoy places like the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore or the numerous hiking and biking trails that they have to offer. I don't think I will be making it up to the U.P. this summer, but I do plan on doing some camping around Frankfort this summer. I love the Sleeping Bear Dunes area.
Read about the Upper Peninsula's concerns in The Mining Journal.