But the most anticipated part of the Annual Meeting was the future-focused unveiling of Minneapolis’ first official tourism master plan, dubbed Destination Transformation 2030 (DT2030).

The more than 500 public and private stakeholders got an in-depth look DT2030, the road map that will help us become a significantly more marketable destination by 2030, a short 13 years away. The pillars of the plan, that were deftly presented at the Annual Meeting by our own Kevin Hanstad, are to:

1. Attract 50 million visitors to the metro area annually by 2030

The number of visitors is the purest way to measure appeal destination appeal. While we already exceed destinations like Denver, St. Louis and Kansas City, we have our sights set on cities like Chicago, which currently has 50 million annual visitors.

2. Launch a metro-wide branding and marketing campaign

Visitors to a region typically don’t focus on city limits or even state lines or in some cases national borders. Our own metro area has a number of unique visitor spots that are located in multiple municipalities with their own destination marketing efforts in place. We have great cooperation among the destination marketers in the region, but we need to push for a plan that will propel us to a much higher level of awareness.

3. Build an iconic visitors center on downtown’s central riverfront

Sadly, many visitors come to Minneapolis and never have the opportunity to experience the nation’s most iconic river. Just as our colleagues at the Minneapolis Downtown Council have focused on creating a gateway to the Mississippi River in the Downtown 2025 Plan, we join them with our visitor center initiative in making sure that we embrace the rich cultural, historical and commercial aspects of the Mississippi River.

4. Implement a unified transportation, wayfinding and information program for Minneapolis

Our Director of Visitor Services, Michael Hernandez, is responsible for managing our Minneapolis Visitor Information facility on Nicollet Mall at 5th Street. He and his team are charged with the responsibility of describing the visitor experiences that are available and helping visitors to select their preferred points of interest and assist them in getting there.

Two of the major challenges Michael and his team face are not having consistent signage to direct visitors to points of interest and the lack of reliable and consistent transportation to get to those points of interest. A comprehensive wayfinding and visitor information program will allow visitors to experience not only our iconic attributes, but those many hidden jewels, as well.

5. Adopt a comprehensive place-making plan to drive Minneapolis’ tourism priorities and investments

Minneapolis has a wonderfully vibrant center city that continues to grow and mature. But Minneapolis has so much more to offer in its diverse neighborhoods, emerging cultural corridors, eclectic food scene, award-winning parks system and so much more. It is incumbent on us to better market these unique destination assets in order to broaden the visitor experience, causing visitors to stay longer and deepening their understanding of all that we have to offer.

6. Accentuate winter as a novel tourism adventure

Regarding this initiative, Mayor Hodges reminded those in attendance at our Annual Meeting not to apologize for winter since it is one of our most valuable assets. Our community’s success in convincing the National Football League to stage its crown jewel event in the city is an indication of the power of winter. Recent successes like The Great Northern provide a foundation for our winter marketing efforts.

7. Grow and emphasize hospitality jobs as important to social equity and the metro economy

With more than 33,000 hospitality jobs in Minneapolis, many of them held by minorities and immigrants, it is vital to communicate the value of the hospitality industry and the upward career mobility that is available. As the number of visitors and other metrics increase, it is vital to have the necessary number of hospitality professionals ready to step in and support that growth.

8. Identify and secure ongoing resources to implement the tourism master plan

We want to make sure that this plan doesn’t just sit on a shelf collecting dust. Instead we are already working to secure the necessary resources that will bring this plan to life. Depending on the specific aspect of plan implementation, we will work with the appropriate public and private sector partners.

Working with our staff, board, and community leaders, Meet Minneapolis will undertake the task of coordinating the planning, management and advocacy of DT2030. We will continue to seek input and refinement and we would welcome your continued engagement. I fully expect that we will be able to check off a number of milestones by the time we host our 2018 Annual Meeting, on the heels of having hosted a hugely successful Super Bowl LII!

But the most anticipated part of the Annual Meeting was the future-focused unveiling of Minneapolis’ first official tourism master plan, dubbed Destination Transformation 2030 (DT2030).

The more than 500 public and private stakeholders got an in-depth look DT2030, the road map that will help us become a significantly more marketable destination by 2030, a short 13 years away. The pillars of the plan, that were deftly presented at the Annual Meeting by our own Kevin Hanstad, are to:

1. Attract 50 million visitors to the metro area annually by 2030

The number of visitors is the purest way to measure appeal destination appeal. While we already exceed destinations like Denver, St. Louis and Kansas City, we have our sights set on cities like Chicago, which currently has 50 million annual visitors.

2. Launch a metro-wide branding and marketing campaign

Visitors to a region typically don’t focus on city limits or even state lines or in some cases national borders. Our own metro area has a number of unique visitor spots that are located in multiple municipalities with their own destination marketing efforts in place. We have great cooperation among the destination marketers in the region, but we need to push for a plan that will propel us to a much higher level of awareness.

3. Build an iconic visitors center on downtown’s central riverfront

Sadly, many visitors come to Minneapolis and never have the opportunity to experience the nation’s most iconic river. Just as our colleagues at the Minneapolis Downtown Council have focused on creating a gateway to the Mississippi River in the Downtown 2025 Plan, we join them with our visitor center initiative in making sure that we embrace the rich cultural, historical and commercial aspects of the Mississippi River.

4. Implement a unified transportation, wayfinding and information program for Minneapolis

Our Director of Visitor Services, Michael Hernandez, is responsible for managing our Minneapolis Visitor Information facility on Nicollet Mall at 5th Street. He and his team are charged with the responsibility of describing the visitor experiences that are available and helping visitors to select their preferred points of interest and assist them in getting there.

Two of the major challenges Michael and his team face are not having consistent signage to direct visitors to points of interest and the lack of reliable and consistent transportation to get to those points of interest. A comprehensive wayfinding and visitor information program will allow visitors to experience not only our iconic attributes, but those many hidden jewels, as well.

5. Adopt a comprehensive place-making plan to drive Minneapolis’ tourism priorities and investments

Minneapolis has a wonderfully vibrant center city that continues to grow and mature. But Minneapolis has so much more to offer in its diverse neighborhoods, emerging cultural corridors, eclectic food scene, award-winning parks system and so much more. It is incumbent on us to better market these unique destination assets in order to broaden the visitor experience, causing visitors to stay longer and deepening their understanding of all that we have to offer.

6. Accentuate winter as a novel tourism adventure

Regarding this initiative, Mayor Hodges reminded those in attendance at our Annual Meeting not to apologize for winter since it is one of our most valuable assets. Our community’s success in convincing the National Football League to stage its crown jewel event in the city is an indication of the power of winter. Recent successes like The Great Northern provide a foundation for our winter marketing efforts.

7. Grow and emphasize hospitality jobs as important to social equity and the metro economy

With more than 33,000 hospitality jobs in Minneapolis, many of them held by minorities and immigrants, it is vital to communicate the value of the hospitality industry and the upward career mobility that is available. As the number of visitors and other metrics increase, it is vital to have the necessary number of hospitality professionals ready to step in and support that growth.

8. Identify and secure ongoing resources to implement the tourism master plan

We want to make sure that this plan doesn’t just sit on a shelf collecting dust. Instead we are already working to secure the necessary resources that will bring this plan to life. Depending on the specific aspect of plan implementation, we will work with the appropriate public and private sector partners.

Working with our staff, board, and community leaders, Meet Minneapolis will undertake the task of coordinating the planning, management and advocacy of DT2030. We will continue to seek input and refinement and we would welcome your continued engagement. I fully expect that we will be able to check off a number of milestones by the time we host our 2018 Annual Meeting, on the heels of having hosted a hugely successful Super Bowl LII!