Visit Minot reports modest decline in 2025 tourism; tournaments still generated estimated $11M impact
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Summary
Visit Minot reported a 6.7% year‑over‑year reduction in visitor days for 2025 and a roughly 20% drop in Canadian traffic; tournaments generated an estimated $11 million economic impact from 37 events, though attendance per tournament was smaller.
Visit Minot presented its 2025 performance report to the city council on Jan. 5, reporting a modest decline in overall visitation for the year and outlining marketing adjustments aimed at segmenting audiences to regain momentum.
Stephanie, Visit Minot’s director, told council that the city’s data provider and state numbers align in showing a 6.7% reduction in overall visitor days for 2025; the state reported a 6.5% reduction overall. She said Canadian visitation was down about 20% for the year and that Visit Minot is actively pursuing Canadian markets and adjusting web and AI‑driven marketing strategies.
The organization reported an estimated $11,000,000 economic impact from tournaments in 2025 across 37 tournaments, but said many of those tournaments were smaller than in prior years and that total tournament impact decreased by roughly $2.5 million compared with the prior reporting period.
Stephanie described shifts in web traffic and marketing tactics, noted successful spikes tied to events (holiday train and a major North Dakota State Fair announcement), and urged continued focus on segmentation (leisure, sports and conventions) to bring higher-value visitors and convention business to the community.
Council members asked questions about Canadian travel trends and whether a presidential library and other anniversaries might increase traffic; Visit Minot said it is coordinating with surrounding destinations and the state to capitalize on larger events and expects some benefit but could not quantify the effect yet.
No council action was required; the presentation was received as information and staff offered to provide requested data slices on follow-up.
