Social media and the Sleeping Bear

In case you’re wondering How Sleeping Bear was voted America’s most beautiful place, the Glen Arbor Sun has your answer. This interesting look at how a relatively tiny market used social media and no small measure of natural assets to score a victory on the national stage is well worth a read. It begins:

Ever since Wednesday, August 17, Northern Michiganders have both embraced and grappled with the news that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and surrounding region are considered the “most beautiful place in America” — at least according to 22 percent of 100,000 voters who participated in the ABC show Good Morning America’s online competition the second week of August.

Sleeping Bear narrowly beat out Asheville, N.C., for the top spot and also bested vista heavyweights, Newport, R.I., Cape Cod, Mass., Point Reyes, Calif., Aspen, Col., Sedona, Ariz., Destin, Fla., Lanikai Beach, Hawaii, and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Those vanquished opponents are known worldwide for their beaches, their lobster, their sunsets, their skiing and their peaks. Suffice to say, we’re now on the map too…

Read on at the Glen Arbor Sun and read more about the Good Morning America award on Leelanau.com!

Photo Credit: The Southwest Entrance to the Manitou Passage by jimflix!