CAVB LAUNCHES ORV INITIATIVE TO CAP OFF ANOTHER SOLID YEAR FOR TOURISM

The 2023-24 season was a busy one with several new projects being launched and hotel occupancy remaining steady after last year’s record breaking rebound from the pandemic. Get all of the details and a complete picture of our strategy in the tourism recap document below.

We have focused our efforts in many areas including: destination development, hospitality support, community collaborations, building efficiencies internally, festival & event support, outdoor stewardship & sustainability in tourism.

HOSPITALITY PARTNER WORK SESSION

Thanks to all who attended our partner meeting before the celebration program. We presented our 3-year strategic plan along with updates on some of our biggest initiatives in the works!

MARKETING, DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT & PARTNER SUPPORT/SUCCESSES

In the most basic sense, we can measure our success as an organization by the revenue that is generated through the visitor overnight stays in our lodging properties, as we are able to track these things very accurately. Then there are the things we work on every day to ensure that our visitors continue to enjoy their stays in the Greater Cadillac Area for years to come.

These things include…

• generating awareness and shining a light on the best of what the Cadillac area has to offer through content creation, advertising, outreach & public relations.
• improving visitor experience, including upgrades to our website, print collateral & our new mobile visitor center.
• taking an honest look to identify what we can do to improve Cadillac as a destination people want to stay in, and then creating positive change with self audits, surveys, data collection & destination development investments like our new ORV Scenic Ride.
• improving hospitality partner support through shared tools, training & showing appreciation.

Lastly, success means connecting with local stakeholders and residents to promote stewardship and sustainability as we work to protect what we have for ourselves and future generations.

We thank and appreciate all those who were able to attend our event this year but also those who couldn’t. To all of our front line hospitality staff, working hard in our hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and more – your jobs are not easy and Cadillac is a better place because of the good work you do each day.

Below is a highlight reel of just some of the things we have been working to document over the past year. There is so much to do in the Cadillac Area – we hope you enjoy it!

2024 TOURISM & HOSPITALITY AWARD WINNERS

The Allan Green Award for Recreation Excellence is an annual honor recognizing an individual who is a dedicated advocate for the advancement of outdoor recreation opportunities in the Greater Cadillac area. For this year’s winner, our team has chosen not one, but two people that helped us immensely the past year. These people went above and beyond their daily job duties and responsibilities in supporting our outdoor recreation opportunities in ways none wouldn’t have anticipated at the beginning of our conversations, and our ORV Scenic Ride wouldn’t have happened without their engagement. Many thanks to two of our partners at the U.S. Forest Service Huron-Manistee NFs – Public Affairs Officer Travis Owens and Recreation Management Specialist Scott Cichoracki.

This year, our Recreation Excellence Award was awarded to a hospitality partner who has demonstrated excellence in providing recreational opportunities to our visitors for over 75 years! Facing major challenges with existing infrastructure at the start of what we now know was our most difficult and warmest winter season yet, Caberfae Peaks demonstrated how the power of social media and a fiercely loyal customer base can initiate positive change in an unprecedented way. They managed to make the best of a tough season and every year they continue to reinvest in their property to make it one of the top wedding venues in northern Michigan as well as one of the most family friendly top ski destinations in Michigan. Congratulations to the hard working crew at Caberfae!