Silent Sports

April 5, 2009

Silent Sports
Michigan is missing the boat on non-motorized tourism

By Rick Coates

While kayaking the Lake Michigan shoreline during a recent blustery spring day, silent sports advocate Georg Schluender gazes across the horizon. While Schluender can’t see Wisconsin, he ponders whether or not tourism officials in Michigan will ever embrace “silent sports” the way neighboring states have.
“Wisconsin gets it. Even Illinois is doing a better job marketing the virtues of silent sports in their state and they don’t have a tenth of the resources we have here in Northern Michigan,” said Schluender. “In Wisconsin, silent sports contributes $9.7 billion to the economy annually; has created more than 129,000 jobs; generates $570 million in state tax revenue annually and contributes $7.5 billion in retail sales which accounted for nearly four percent of the gross state product in 2008.”
Schluender points out that those kinds of stats are not being tracked in Michigan because the tourism officials only pay lip service to silent sports opportunities here in the state. But he believes that Michigan (and in particular Northern Michigan) could easily surpass Wisconsin’s numbers if our state would start promoting it.
“If you go to the Travel Wisconsin website and plug in your favorite silent sports activities and register your e-mail they will send you e-mail updates on activities and events happening around the state. Go to the Travel Michigan site and good luck if you are a silent sport enthusiast,” said Schluender. “I recently took a group of travel writers on a silent sports excursion of Northern Michigan and they were blown away by the experience. It was one of the coldest and windiest days of the year and we went kayaking down the Jordan River and these writers were amazed.”

100+ ACTIVITIES
So what constitutes “silent sports?” There are a hundred plus activities ranging from kayaking, hiking, mountain and road biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, rock climbing, windsurfing, standup paddleboarding, river-rafting, kiteboarding, trail-running, birding and geocaching (see separate article) to name a few.
“Basically silent sports is any activity that is powered by humans, essentially anything non-motorized,” said Schluender, who owns Michigan Outdoor Silent Sport Tours, a Bellaire based company. “The profile of the person who participates in silent sports is the type of person we want visiting Northern Michigan. They have disposable income, they are educated, and they like to leave things better than they found them. They are low impact on the environment.”
Schluender takes his point even further.
“In fact, Northern Michigan is so conducive for silent sports it should be one of the tools chambers of commerce and realtors should be using to market our region to entrepreneurs and other professionals,” said Schluender. “Our region presents itself with so many opportunities 24/7 and 365 days a year for the silent sport enthusiast that we are literally missing the boat by not marketing these opportunities to tourists and others who might relocate here. You want to appeal to the young professional? Then start promoting the virtues of silent sports here in Northern Michigan.”
But isn’t 24/7 and 365 days a year somewhat of an overstatement?
“Not at all; that is the great thing about silent sports -- they are weather proof. Weather conditions, regardless of what they are, just present different opportunities for the silent sports enthusiasts,” said Schluender. “I guided a group of professional women from a major corporation in Chicago on a silent sports weekend this past winter. One of the activities included kayaking by moonlight and having a wine dinner outside in a tent when we finished. If it is cold out we put on another layer; if it is raining we put rain gear on.”

MISSING OUT
Schluender is frustrated by the tourism officials in Michigan dismissing spring and other times of the year in their promotion of tourism activities.
“They (Travel Michigan) think that the only thing that will sell is the ‘warm weather’ season in Michigan, a few weeks of fall color and a couple of peak snow months,” said Schluender. “But the reality is that what they view as the ‘perfect weather’ is in reality limited to a few months. Not only here but everywhere for that matter, as every state has its share of what is considered bad weather. But with silent sports all types of weather works. Northern Michigan should be the silent sports capital of the country.”
Schluender, who grew up in the Petoskey/Harbor Springs area and has been a silent sports devotee his whole life, is not waiting around for tourism officials to figure it out.
“I and others who get it are carrying the torch. I am working with several outfitters in the region and resort and B&B properties and others who see the value in this. Just recently a chamber of commerce called me asking me to come and speak to them. The great thing is that a resort or hotel can easily get into the silent sports business with little investment, regardless of the size of their property. I am currently doing a silent sports opportunity assessment for a major resort in Northern Michigan.”
His work as silent sports guide and promoter has given Schluender an opportunity to see shifts in travel and corporate trends.
“I have a lot of corporate clients. Several companies are incorporating silent sports activities into their retreats and conferences. These same corporate types come here for a conference and then they return to the region with their spouse and/or kids for this same silent sport opportunity.”

FASTEST GROWING
One of the challenges for the silent sports industry is that there is not one organization that collectively markets all of the opportunities that exist. Silent Sports Magazine launched 25 years ago, has been tracking trends in the industry. It says that several silent sports are among the fastest growing participation opportunities in North America.
On average, American silent sports buffs travel 15 days a year to participate in their activities. contributing $250 billion in adventure travel. Last year, close to $800 billion was contributed to the U.S. economy.
“I agree with that conclusion. This past winter on just one river I was able to increase winter rafting activities by 250 percent from last year,” said Schluender. “I have to chuckle when I here tourism officials in Lansing dismiss spring in Michigan as marketable. I have so many inquiries for silent sport tours this spring.”
Schluender says there are several reasons why spring in Northern Michigan is the perfect time for silent sports adventures.
“For example, spring paddling has much potential because the rivers are at their highest; birding and mammal migration and breeding are at their most intense time and most visible since the forest canopy is just starting to fill. Plus you have wild edibles such as morels and flowers that are blanketing the banks and northwoods. Plus, no snowmobiles or ORVs distracting the sounds of nature. I have been out seeing sand hill cranes, otter, fox, coyote, elk, pileated woodpeckers, hawks, owls, beaver and porcupines. Another virtue of spring is that there are fewer people around. Look, this time of the year is perfect for hotels and resorts to create silent sports packages to attract visitors.”

Georg Schluender of Michigan Outdoor Silent Sports Tours is currently working on developing a couple of silent sports festivals for Northern Michigan. He is available for personal adventure guiding. Chambers, tourism officials, hotels and others interested in contacting him may do so at 231-350-7080.




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