Outdoor Recreation Grows Into $10B Industry In Michigan

Skiing, boating, biking. Michigan is home to a roster of outdoor sports.

But it’s more than just fun and games.

Outdoor recreation last year in Michigan grew into a booming $10.8 billion industry that employs nearly 10,000 people.

“The outdoor recreation economy is a powerful, unifying force for better health, good jobs and private sector investment all across the country,” said a statement from Brad Garmon, executive director of the Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office.

Michigan’s outdoor economy increased by more than 15% from 2020 to 2021, an annual report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis shows. The impact is greater now than it has ever been in the 10 years since federal officials starting measuring it.

Data shows outdoor recreation in Michigan grew steadily from 2012 until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. But the latest report shows it has rebounded and exceeded 2019 levels by about $27 million.

This impact hit the Muskegon Luge Adventure Sports Park.

“With the pandemic, we really saw a boom in the amount of visitors just with everything else being shut down,” said outdoor adventure specialist Dan Bonner.

As one of only four public luge tracks in the United States, the park located in Muskegon State Park also offers ice skating, cross country ski trails and sledding. And it recently added summer sports to the lineup with a quarter-mile zipline, archery shooting range and hiking trails.

Bonner said summertime visitors come from areas throughout the Midwest like Chicago, Ohio and Kentucky. But daily winter visitors tend to be local to Muskegon or Grand Rapids.

“We continue to see a growth in sales and number of visitors just from the success we had last year,” Bonner said.

In 2021, outdoor recreation pumped $454 billion into the national economy with states like California, Texas and Florida leading the pack. Nationally, the economic impact grew nearly 25% in a year.

Michigan ranked 13th, with boating and fishing added nearly $1 billion to the total outdoor economy. RVing brought in $719 million, other activities like outdoor concerts or gardening accounted for $2 billion and what’s called “supporting activities” – or construction, tourism or government dollars – made up 35% of the industry.

Check out the full article from Michigan Live here.