Michigan selected as partner for travel destination photos for Google Maps

At the Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism, held at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan was announced as the first Midwest state to team up with Google for making photos of travel destinations available via Google Maps.

The partnership between Pure Michigan and Google was announced at the Michigan Tourism Conference by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Travel Michigan VP David West, and Steve Silverman from Google Maps.

As a result of the team-up between Google and Pure Michigan, pictures of a number of tourist destinations will be viewable online through Google Street View with 360-degree imagery. The tourist attractions which will feature in Google Maps images will include the Mackinac Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, among others.

The tourist destination images making their way into Google Maps will be from among the over 44,000 panoramic pictures which were clicked by members and volunteers of the Pure Michigan team and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources last fall. The photos were clicked with the help of the Google Trekker backpack system which has a camera mounted on its top.

Noting that the breathtakingly-beautiful images will be “globally accessible on Google Maps,” Calley said in a statement: “This initiative combines our natural beauty with innovative technology in a way that really speaks to all that Michigan has to offer visitors, residents, and businesses alike.”