A family-owned cannabis retailer in northern Michigan launches a campaign promoting “cannabis tourism” for residents and visitors coming to the region for the “up north” experience.
The company called Dunegrass Co. has six locations across northern Michigan in Big Rapids, Cadillac, Manistee, Beulah, Gaylord and Marquette. And it has designs to build several more shops, according to CEO Nick Piedmonte in a press release issued by the company.
“It’s widely understood that tourism is a long-standing economic engine for northern Michigan,” DuneGrass Co. stated in the release. “Cannabis is now an industry emerging alongside tourism in the region. We’re in the infancy of understanding how these two economies interact and what the long-term force multipliers are between the two.”
Piedmonte lives in Traverse City and claims to understand the region’s deep relationship with tourism.
“We’re heavily involved in the communities we serve, so developing our brand to promote canna-tourism is a natural fit for us,” Piedmonte said in the release.
Part of the company’s “canna-tourism” campaign is a local guide to up north activities, like hiking and watersports, near its retail cannabis locations available on its website.
“We want to be the top-of-mind dispensary for visitors when coming to the region,” Piedmonte said in the release. “It’s our hope that our new website will help them find the hotspots and local activities that elevate their up north experience. We have also formed supporting relationships with the West Michigan Tourist Association and the West Michigan Cannabis Trial who have embraced the normalization of cannabis tourism in the area.”
Additionally, Dunegrass Co. launched a social media campaign called A Higher Latitude to promote northern Michigan. The account is expected to share “Michi-Facts” to teach people about recreational opportunities unique to the region, according to the release.
For instance, the account plans to share events like the Hoxeyville Music Festival, which, in partnership with Dunegrass Co., will be the first existing music festival offering onsite cannabis sales and consumption.
FILE – Dunegrass Co. has locations across northern Michigan in Big Rapids, Cadillac, Manistee, Beulah, Gaylord and Marquette.
Because many organizations designed to promote Michigan’s tourism have some level of federal funding, cannabis messaging or membership of cannabis companies could complicate things, according to the release.
Piedmonte stated, “One of our goals with our marketing efforts is to fill the void and promote the normalization of cannabis as a part of visiting ‘Michigan’s Higher Latitude.'”
Michigan was the first state in the Midwest to legalize recreational marijuana. In 2018, the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act was passed, legalizing recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
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