LANSING - The popular event "Be a Tourist in Your Own Town" was back again in Lansing area on June 2nd, 2018.

This was the 24th years that the event was organized by the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The goal is to showcase the Greater Lansing's attractions to the local residents.

About 15,000 people participated the event "Be a Tourist in Your Own Town" on the day of the event.

Participants could purchase an $1 passport to enjoy over 80 local attractions, special events and tourism suppliers during the event.

"The reason for the event is to inspire and educate area residents about all the tourism that they can see and do in Greater Lansing so that they are felt of a sense of pride in the community which they live," said Brendan Dwyer, the Manager of Marketing Communication at the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau.

After participating the event, "they can share that (the experience) with visitors that they might encounter or encourage friends and families to come visit the Greater Lansing area," Dwyer said.

To support the event, the Capital Area Transportation Authority, also known as CATA, provided five routes to transport people to the majority attractions.

Some of the attractions were stamp locations where the participants had their passport stamped.

Dwyer said, "I personally love this event. I think you will find a lot of people will find a brand new favorite thing to do on this day. Something that they may have not thought about checking out. Today they will take the time to go explore that thing because it's just a dollar today."

Several locations in Meridian Township also participated in the event, including the Meridian Historical Village, Harris Nature Center and HOMTV.

The Meridian Historical Village performed a reenactment of the Victorian era to help participants learn about the history. The Harris Nature Center opened a new structure, the Beaver Lodge, for participants to explore nature. HOMTV held studio tours to show the behind the scenes magic of television.

Rachel McDaniel, Assistant Naturist at the Harris Nature Center said, "I think this event also brings in people that haven't been here (Harris Nature Center) before or didn't know we were here since most of the 'Be a Tourist in Your Own Town' events are in Downtown Lansing."

"I think it's really cool that we are able to be part of that and bring people into Meridian Township," McDaniel said.