Tourism’s future bright

Visitor profile findings positive

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, September 15, 2007

The beauty of Otter Tail County and its natural environment attracts many tourists to this area, with many of those people returning here in succeeding years. Those were two of the findings noted by University of Minnesota graduate student Raintry Salk who conducted a year-long research study of tourism in northwest Minnesota.

She provided her findings during an address Monday evening during the Otter Tail County Tourism Association Annual Meeting held at Thumper Pond in Ottertail.

“We really need to capitalize on the beauty of our region, its fall colors, scenic drives and lakes,” Fergus Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Jean Bowman said. “The reasons people sited for primary visits are right in line with our current slogan of ‘Find Us, Lose Yourself.’ High ratings for those things — plus small town feelings — underscore the unique position we have as a destination for relaxing and reconnecting with one’s self.”

Bowman said that Salk’s findings that a very high percent of visitors to this area are repeat visitors speaks very highly to the fact that people are very satisfied with the experiences they have when visiting Otter Tail County.

“Our community is taking the initiative to invite people here. Their guests love it so much they come back to enjoy the many other things we have to offer — in addition to their friends,” Bowman said.

More than 50 people attended the annual meeting at Thumper Pond in Ottertail to learn about who the tourism customer is, what people like to do in our area and how they make travel decisions. Demographic information was also offered in the findings.

“Your average visitor is 48 years old, the planning time for a vacation is typically six to seven weeks and the average travel party size is three people,” Salk said.

Bowman said the Fergus Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau is in the planning and budgeting process for 2008.

“Raintry’s findings will be put to great use as we incorporate them into our marketing messages, the media we use to reach our customers and the timing of promotions,” Bowman said. “A perfect example is the low number of visitors who find out about our area at sports and travel shows.”

Raintry’s research supports the trend Explore Minnesota Tourism is seeing in declining attendance at sports and travel shows — at least as a place to make travel decisions, Bowman said.

“We’ll be shifting dollars from that market and putting more into the Internet, Canadian markets and increasing promotions in the spring season,” Bowman said.

The year-long project is a collaborative effort of the University of Minnesota Tourism Center, Explore Minnesota Tourism, University of Minnesota Sustainable Regional Partnerships and nine community partners.

“We jumped at the opportunity to learn more about our customers,” Bowman said. “A $40,000 project like this wouldn’t have been possible without a team effort.”

Similar reports were released Tuesday in Fargo-Moorhead for the South Red River Valley area. Later in September tourism reports will be issued for the Detroit Lakes and Mahnomen areas.