We're improving, but it's painfully slow compared to what's going on nationally.

If they talk fast, try not to talk painfully slow.

The biggest question is whether people are feeling confident enough to take a trip.

This is the underlying thing that's saving us- people still like to travel.

Last year we thought we were finally going to turn the corner ... we actually saw a slight decline in travel. So we were half-right last year.

When we met with representatives for Travel Michigan to review the tourism indicators that we have been tracking for more than 20 years, we were all somewhat surprised by just how well the industry fared in 2005.