Last week, the Mayor and City Council approved the final 2017 City of Minneapolis budget, and we were fortunate to receive $750,000 in supplemental funding for next year. Meet Minneapolis has been a partner of the City for nearly 30 years, during which time we have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in direct spending and overall economic impact. The additional investment for next year is designated for enhanced target marketing, major convention and event funding and customer and stakeholder engagement. These additional dollars represent a significant investment by the City in the work we do, and they are a recognition of the value of meetings and tourism to our local economy.

This additional investment will help Meet Minneapolis and the local travel/hospitality community to make the most of the anticipated surge in domestic and international attention our community will have with the series of major events coming over the next 28 months. It’s hard to believe that within that timeframe we will have hosted a Super Bowl, a Final Four and two ESPN Summer X Games. But we cannot forget some of the many groups we will be hosting in 2017 that don’t necessarily grab headlines.

For example, we will welcome back the USA Volleyball 2017 Girls’ Junior National Championships, which broke spending records for us in the summer of 2014. The American Choral Directors Association's 2017 National Convention will be here next year as a nod to our world-class choral music community. We will also host the rapidly growing American Homebrewers Association’s 2017 Annual Conference, as well as welcome back the National Collegiate Hockey Conference 2017 Frozen Faceoff at Target Center. Another significant group we will host is the US Travel Association’s ESTO 2017 Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations. This is significant for Meet Minneapolis as this is conference where we can exchange ideas with other destination marketers and continue to refine our marketing and sales strategies. This type of professional development makes us an even more valuable resource for our partners.

With the events like these coming our way, along with a much larger inventory of hotels to integrate into our marketing plans, we will have a very busy 2017. So we thank our partner organizations and all of our stakeholders for working shoulder to shoulder with us in 2016. Together we'll make 2017 another memorable and successful year.

Last week, the Mayor and City Council approved the final 2017 City of Minneapolis budget, and we were fortunate to receive $750,000 in supplemental funding for next year. Meet Minneapolis has been a partner of the City for nearly 30 years, during which time we have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in direct spending and overall economic impact. The additional investment for next year is designated for enhanced target marketing, major convention and event funding and customer and stakeholder engagement. These additional dollars represent a significant investment by the City in the work we do, and they are a recognition of the value of meetings and tourism to our local economy.

This additional investment will help Meet Minneapolis and the local travel/hospitality community to make the most of the anticipated surge in domestic and international attention our community will have with the series of major events coming over the next 28 months. It’s hard to believe that within that timeframe we will have hosted a Super Bowl, a Final Four and two ESPN Summer X Games. But we cannot forget some of the many groups we will be hosting in 2017 that don’t necessarily grab headlines.

For example, we will welcome back the USA Volleyball 2017 Girls’ Junior National Championships, which broke spending records for us in the summer of 2014. The American Choral Directors Association's 2017 National Convention will be here next year as a nod to our world-class choral music community. We will also host the rapidly growing American Homebrewers Association’s 2017 Annual Conference, as well as welcome back the National Collegiate Hockey Conference 2017 Frozen Faceoff at Target Center. Another significant group we will host is the US Travel Association’s ESTO 2017 Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations. This is significant for Meet Minneapolis as this is conference where we can exchange ideas with other destination marketers and continue to refine our marketing and sales strategies. This type of professional development makes us an even more valuable resource for our partners.

With the events like these coming our way, along with a much larger inventory of hotels to integrate into our marketing plans, we will have a very busy 2017. So we thank our partner organizations and all of our stakeholders for working shoulder to shoulder with us in 2016. Together we'll make 2017 another memorable and successful year.