4^th of July Weekend Breaks Area Visitor Records

Tourists From 43 States, 20 Countries Enjoy Northwoods Lakes, Festivals and Fireworks

We couldn't have asked for a better July 4^th holiday weekend this year, with band concerts, fireworks, and 4^th of July parades on water and on land. Many family and friend get-togethers drew people from all over the state and beyond. The weather was near perfect all weekend. The Park Rapids Bull Ride I attended drew a record crowd of 18,000 over the three days. Bull riders came from across the country and the world to compete – and so did the spectators. Thanks to all the local volunteers and Chamber of Commerce for helping put on a great Bull Ride and 4^th of July parade.

In Bemidji, the Visitor's Center counted tourists from 43 states, 20 countries and 6 Canadian provinces vacationing in the region over the course of just four days.

For all of you who work in the restaurants, resorts, state parks and inns, thank you for spending your 4^th of July keeping our local tourist economy humming. Officials estimate that every $1 spent at a resort circulates up to 5 times through the local economy, providing work for builders, retail, suppliers and grocery stores. When our lodges are full we all do better, with the average tourist couple spending about $175 per day in the area.

Promoting Northern Minnesota Tourism at the Capitol

There's tough competition within Minnesota and nationally to attract those tourist dollars, which is why I've been working hard at the State Capitol to do what I can to keep our region competitive.

I co-authored a new law to re-classify homestead resorts, which provided significant property tax savings to 'mom and pop' resorts in our area.

As a member of the House Tourism Division, I helped secure over $18.4  million in state funding for Explore Minnesota Tourism in 2006 and 2007, which is matched by $4 million per year in nonstate funding. Explore Minnesota promotes tourism in the state through marketing, an extensive website, and support services to business owners.

School start dates were a big issue for the tourism industry during the 2005 Legislative Session, and I co-authored a new law requiring that public schools start classes after Labor Day. This change will be good for tourism and good for families' traditional end of summer events.

I also authored a bill this session that passed to expand the Heartland State Trail from Park Rapids to Detroit Lakes. The bill funds predesign of the trail extension. The Heartland Trail attracts visitors for biking, horse back riding and snowmobiling year round, and the extension will make it an even better attraction.

In surveys of travelers in Minnesota, scenic touring was voted the favorite travel activity. Camping, fishing and visiting state parks also ranked high on the list. All of these activities point to the importance to tourism of keeping our lakes clean and conserving wildlife habitat. This year we passed $15 million for the Clean Water Legacy Act to start testing and cleaning up our impaired lakes and rivers, and I plan to keep working to clean up our waters.

I think there's even more we could do on the state level to promote our region's tourism. If you have comments or ideas on this or other legislative issues, please contact me. I can be reached at 327 State Office Building, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155; toll free at (800) 920-5867; at home at (218) 732-4562; or by e-mail at rep.brita.sailer@house.mn.

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