Tourism ads to focus more on Canada, extend to Wisconsin

Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. - State tourism officials are looking north and east as they prepare their marketing campaign for the next vacation season.

"We know that we've seen really good results in Canada," state Tourism Director Sara Otte Coleman said Tuesday. "The exchange rate's good. Everything's favorable right now to get more Canadians to come down. So we've increased that, and we've also added Canadian television for the first time in many, many years."

Research also has shown people in Wisconsin are interested in North Dakota, Otte Coleman said.

"Our numbers from Wisconsin were increasing, and we thought that it would be more efficient, so we switched our dollars over from Nebraska and Iowa into Wisconsin this year," she said.

Research by Longwoods International, a travel industry market research company, showed each dollar spent on advertising brought more than $80 in visitor spending to the state last year, Otte Coleman said. That is up nearly 50 percent in returns on investment from 2004, she said.

Tourism officials said the number of visits to North Dakota's national parks was up 15 percent last year. The number of visits to state parks was down 5 percent and visitors to state attractions dropped 6 percent. Lodging taxes and airport boardings were up.

"The 2005 research showed that our 'Legendary' campaign continues to be very effective," Otte Coleman said in a statement.

"The 2006 campaign will continue to focus on North Dakota's culture and history, beautiful scenery, and events and attractions," she said. "In addition, a study of out-of-state visitors to North Dakota conducted by Longwoods International shows people who live close to our borders are interested in coming here for a weekend getaway of shopping, dining, and special events. We expanded our 2006 'Legendary' campaign to target that potential market as well."