Sara Otte Coleman said 2020 was a pretty terrible year, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our visitation numbers were down almost 20 percent, Otte Coleman said. The revenue spent was down almost 30 percent.
Otte Coleman said spending on tourist activities dropped from $3 billion in 2019 to $2 billion in 2020. But she said it could have been worse. A lot of other states were impacted more dramatically, Otte Coleman said. We re also further from major population centers, and people just weren t travelling very far.
But Otte Coleman said traffic to the Division s Website is up this year over last. We know people are going to be looking for road trips, and we re a road-trip destination, Otte Coleman said. Historically, the bulk of our leisure travel is comprised of road-trippers, people that drive their personal vehicles into the state.
Is the proposed Buffalo City theme park the answer to North Dakota s tourism challenge?
Tourism is North Dakota s No. 3 industry but the state lacks big attractions that can draw large numbers of visitors and engage them for long periods that translate into a bigger revenue payoff. A proposal centered on the mystique of the buffalo aims to become a tourism gateway. Written By: Patrick Springer | ×
This rendering from early plans shows the entrance to the proposed Buffalo City theme park. Special to The Forum
JAMESTOWN, N.D. City leaders inherited a major headache when they took possession of the struggling Frontier Village on the edge of town in the fall of 2019. The rundown tourist attraction was losing money and only drawing a trickle of visitors.
Letter: Optimism high for North Dakota tourism post-pandemic bismarcktribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bismarcktribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hotels in Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota hit hard as pandemic losses lead to closings
At least seven of the metro area s 60-plus hotels are now closed, but tourism officials say there s hope on the horizon for the rest of the year as the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control. Written By: Helmut Schmidt | ×
The Kelly Inn located at 4207 13th Ave. S. in Fargo is closed and is slated to be torn down. David Samson / The Forum
FARGO The hotel industry has been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Fargo-Moorhead and North Dakota have not been spared.
At least seven hotels in the metro area are closed at this time, most of them victims of bottom lines that went into the red as people started hunkering down a year ago.
Hotels in Fargo-Moorhead, North Dakota hit hard as pandemic losses lead to closings jamestownsun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jamestownsun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.