Cannabis Tourism In Northern Michigan? Dunegrass Weed Retailer Wants Visitors This Summer, Who's In?

Dunegrass Co., a family-owned marijuana retailer in Michigan, is launching a campaign promoting cannabis tourism for residents and visitors coming to the northern region of the state, reported bigrapidnews.com on Thursday.

Dunegrass’ CEO, Nick Piedmonte stated in a press release that the company has plans to build several more shops in the region that would add to another six locations they already have in the area.

"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.

"It’s widely understood that tourism is a long-standing economic engine for northern Michigan. 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."

Dunegrass’ new website is largely dedicated to providing a hyper-local guide to “Up-North” activities, from hiking and biking to snow and watersports near Dunegrass’ retail cannabis locations.

Tourism: A Billion Dollar Industry In Michigan

“Michigan tourism is a $26 billion dollar industry and studies show that as many as 75 percent of travelers between 30 and 65 have some interest in cannabis as part of their vacation experience,” recently reported the West Michigan Tourist Association (WMTA).
“We want to be the top-of-mind dispensary for visitors when coming to the region. Like an outfitter, we hope to form relationships with visitors and provide them with more than just great cannabis products. It’s our hope that our new website will help them find the hotspots and local activities that elevate their up north experience," Piedmonte said who added that he and his company have relationships with the WMTA and West Michigan Cannabis Trial, both of whom have embraced the normalization of cannabis tourism in the region. Photo by Jason Brower on Unsplash