The Future Is Now

Today is an exciting day at Meet Minneapolis. Our first steering committee meeting for the Tourism Master Plan (TMP) is happening--beginning a new era in planning for the future of Minneapolis as a premiere destination for leisure travel and conventions. Ground work for the TMP process has been underway for some time and many of you heard about it at our Annual Meeting last month.

Steering committee members are reviewing a significant amount of data we have collected and are raising great probing questions about perceptions of Minneapolis and want to know more about our ranking among other cities in key attributes. Mayor Betsy Hodges, co-chair of the TMP steering committee, said, "We don't have a product problem. We have an awareness problem."

We are off to a terrific start on this: The latest edition of Meetings Today magazine arrived yesterday and they started the conversation with meeting planners and industry peers in a feature story, “Twin Cities Transformation,” that begins with the most obvious sign of the changes in our city – the nearly completed U.S. Bank Stadium and other infrastructure investments that are happening now.

The future is upon us. While some of the changes may seem to be far down the road, nothing is too distant in this fast moving world we live in today. Our work on the TMP will ensure we are focused on the things that will make a difference for our partners’ businesses, our clients, the local residents and our visitors to the City by Nature. Enjoy the story in Meetings Today, and keep an eye on this space for what’s next in our destination transformation.

Steering committee members are reviewing a significant amount of data we have collected and are raising great probing questions about perceptions of Minneapolis and want to know more about our ranking among other cities in key attributes. Mayor Betsy Hodges, co-chair of the TMP steering committee, said, "We don't have a product problem. We have an awareness problem."

We are off to a terrific start on this: The latest edition of Meetings Today magazine arrived yesterday and they started the conversation with meeting planners and industry peers in a feature story, “Twin Cities Transformation,” that begins with the most obvious sign of the changes in our city – the nearly completed U.S. Bank Stadium and other infrastructure investments that are happening now.

The future is upon us. While some of the changes may seem to be far down the road, nothing is too distant in this fast moving world we live in today. Our work on the TMP will ensure we are focused on the things that will make a difference for our partners’ businesses, our clients, the local residents and our visitors to the City by Nature. Enjoy the story in Meetings Today, and keep an eye on this space for what’s next in our destination transformation.