Minnesota has had a rough few months. After a sweeping federal immigration-enforcement operation descended on the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, widespread unrest thrust the region into the national spotlight.
The state's tourism board, however, is hoping travelers will look beyond those wintertime headlines. Earlier this month, Explore Minnesota rolled out a national tourism campaign inviting Americans to "Come Visit Your Neighbors in Minnesota."
According to Lauren Bennett McGinty, executive director of Explore Minnesota, the initiative aims to help uplift businesses that have been hard hit since December.
Explore Minnesota conducted a winter survey and found that more than 40% of businesses statewide reported a negative impact on their bottom line from the federal enforcement activity.
"A lot of businesses really struggled with all of the things going on in Minnesota, and a lot of our people also struggled, whether it was fear of going to work or [being in] the thick of what was going on," she said, calling the ad campaign "our love letter to Minnesota."
Lauren Bennett McGinty
"It's to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are here and we are friendly, and we really love each other as neighbors," McGinty said. "We want people to come experience that for themselves."
This concept of "neighborism," defined as "a commitment to protecting the people around you, no matter who they are or where they came from," is central to the campaign's messaging. (Writer Adam Serwer coined the term in a January article in The Atlantic titled "Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong.")
The initiative includes billboard advertising as well as a short-form video launched via social media, which features voices from across the state describing what neighborism can look like, from shoveling a driveway to sharing a favorite fishing spot. Additionally, the pitch leans on affordability, outdoor recreation and cultural richness, highlighting the state's diverse immigrant and Native communities.
The campaign also marks a deliberate departure from Explore Minnesota's typical regional playbook. Rather than targeting traditional Midwestern drive markets, the organization is focusing on six cities it doesn't normally reach: Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Washington and Portland, Ore.
"We don't get out to the coasts very often with our marketing," said McGinty.
In each market, billboards are positioned for high visibility, including one outside Fenway Park in Boston, one in Midtown Manhattan and another along the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.
The Canadian travel boycott, which began early last year, continues to take a large economic toll on Minnesota, as political tensions between Canada and the U.S. continue to keep cross-border travelers away. Explore Minnesota data indicates that Canadian visitation to the state was down 18% year over year in January, with preliminary February numbers showing a similar pattern.
McGinty said Minnesota's northern regions, as well as tribal nations with casinos, have been among the hardest hit by the boycott. Explore Minnesota hopes to offset some of those lost visitors with domestic travel stimulated by the campaign.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. The northern regions of the state have been hit hardest by the Canadian travel boycott. Photo Credit: Jenn Martins
Despite the headwinds, McGinty said hospitality businesses surveyed in February expressed optimism about the summer ahead, with the season expected to be buoyed by a busy events calendar that includes World Wrestling Entertainment's SummerSlam and numerous concerts.
And in addition to the "Come Visit Your Neighbors in Minnesota" push, Explore Minnesota plans to run a broader spring and summer campaign targeting the state's usual drive markets, including the Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
When it comes to these regional source markets, McGinty sees an opportunity in the current trend of last-minute travel.
"We're trying to get out ahead of that and say, 'We're here for your last-minute trip,'" she said. "You can take a quick car ride and be here and enjoy everything."
Minnesota admired
A memorial for Alex Pretti, one of two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. Photo Credit: Kate Koffman
Kate Koffman of Washington, D.C., visited Minneapolis as part of a roadtrip in early March, routing herself through the city specifically because of events that had unfolded there.
"That city seems to have made authoritarianism blink, and I had a lot of respect for what I saw going on," she said. During her visit, she made a point of visiting a memorial for Alex Pretti, one of two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal agents during the unrest.
Koffman described the city as quiet during her visit, with a hotel staff member telling her that they had been receiving a number of similar visitors coming to pay their respects.
"The people are nice," she said. "I went out of my way because I admire the people there and what they did."