Explore Minnesota, Minnesota’s state tourism arm, has launched its largest nationwide marketing campaign thus far. The Star of the North campaign aims to attract more visitors and new settlers to the Land of 10,000 Lakes from March 4th. The campaign will circulate in 22 states and Canada.
The campaign consists of digital, TV, and radio ads targeting several major US cities, including Seattle, Boston, and Austin. It also marks Explore Minnesota’s expansion beyond tourism advertising to encouraging American relocations to Minnesota. Separate tourism-focused ads mostly targeting Midwest cities, as well as Denver and Dallas, will complement these.
“Our campaigns are going to showcase the best of our state,” said Lauren Bennett McGinty, the executive director of Explore Minnesota. The campaign could help fill critical job openings, as Minnesota’s unemployment rate of 3.1% is lower than the national average, leading to a surplus of jobs over workers. However, the state experiences more people leaving than relocating to it.
This initiative is supported by over $25 million in additional funding given to Explore Minnesota by the Legislature in the last year. This is the first budget increase and the highest investment the agency has received in over a decade. The funding will support the new Explore Minnesota for Business division that aims to attract residents, new businesses and convince students to remain in Minnesota for education and post-graduation.
“More than half of the states in the country have livability campaigns like this,” mentioned McGinty. She hopes to continue receiving sustained funding from the Legislature for this long-term plan. Besides, Governor Tim Walz stated that the state intends to keep financing the agency.
Minnesota’s leisure and hospitality sector, comprising around 250,000 employees in resorts, hotels, restaurants, museums, and theaters, is the state’s fourth-largest industry. Handicapped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry, which lost $14 billion and 23,000 workers since 2019, is exhibiting signs of recovery.
