Blue Water Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
500 Thomas Edison Parkway, Suite 200
Port Huron, Michigan
800.852.4242 | 810.987.8687

Office Hours Mon. – Fri., 8:00 – 4:00 pm

MEET THE TEAM

TO ALL OUR HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM ECONOMY PARTNERS;

We are beginning a new chapter in our destination- our first Five-Year Strategic Plan. We are grateful to all our visitor economy partners for their input and support during the creation of this plan. This Strategic Plan is a road map for us to follow in growing our marketing, destination development, and advocacy efforts for the next few years. Our Plan is based on solid research on our visitor profile and encompasses the best practices in promoting destinations like ours. It addresses branding and outlines strategic goals for each year of the Plan. It also identifies our geographic target markets and the types of travelers we hope to attract.

There are specific plans for sales, sports, pr/communications, digital and social media strategies, tourism partner programs, destination development, and community relations. Most importantly, our plan addresses how we can best measure the success of our initiatives and gauge progress of the travel product in our destination. Our CVB staff, visitor economy partners and community leaders are dedicated to preserving our natural resources and assets for future generations. Working with our destination partners and leaders, we can spearhead the effort to become good stewards of our destination. This means working to develop programs to educate our travel sector on sustainable tourism practices. It also means fostering a mindset for our residents and visitors alike to help preserve our destination assets, personality, and environment for others to enjoy.

Michigan will continue to be our primary market for visitors, and we see a great opportunity to attract west coast Michigan residents to our area to experience our less crowded communities and beaches. We’ll expand our reach into additional areas such as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Canada. We see great potential in growing visitation in the winter season through more events and indoor activities throughout the region. Our region is known for its fishing and boating opportunities, and we plan to leverage this natural draw and increase awareness in this area. Through this plan, we can understand our place in conversations that include workforce housing, transportation, and development by assisting community leaders that are spearheading these efforts. It is important to assist our communities in finding new ways to attract visitors.

We hope you will review this plan to see how it might impact your businesses and the well-being of our cities along the Thumbcoast. This plan calls for highly focused marketing and promotion to bring quality visitors to our area. It will be reviewed and changes made as market conditions change and evolve.
This is your plan and the CVB is here to guide it on your behalf. We encourage your input on how to make this plan work more efficiently and effectively. The future of Michigan’s Thumbcoast promises to support growth and prosperity to our residents, businesses and our communities.

Please contact me or any of our staff with suggestions and support for the strategies and tactics that this plan will spawn.

Best Regards,

Michael Hensley

Michael Hensley, BA, CTIS, CTW
President + CEO
Blue Water Area Convention & Visitors Bureau