Welcome to EMT Express, providing bi-weekly news and tips for the people who market Minnesota tourism.

• May 2009 Inquiries
• Save the Date for the 2010 Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference
• Cultural Heritage Tourism Workshops Sponsorship Opportunity
• New Travel Trade Leads
• Electronic Marketing Tip
• Leisure and Hospitality Job Gains
• Travel Leadership Summit
• Meetings Guidance for Companies Receiving Taxpayer Assistance
• 2009 American Indian Tourism Conference Building Native Tourism: Pathways for Change
• 25th anniversary Minnesota Community Pride competition

May 2009 Inquiries

*Includes great response to the Spring/Summer direct mail postcard, which offered travelers a Spring/Summer Minnesota Explorer and map, along with the opportunity to customize their packet by adding in a biking guide, fishing guide, or golf guide. Including 898 cards processed in April, total response for the campaign was 36,319 through the end of May.

Save the Date for the 2010 Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference
After a formal RFP process, Cragun’s Resort was awarded the contract for the 2010 Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference. Mark your calendar now to attend the conference January 26 – 27, 2010.

Many of you have commented that you would attend the conference if it was shorter, so here is your chance! We listened to your feedback and the conference now has a two day schedule.

If you are interested in being a sponsor or having a booth in the Marketplace, or have any additional questions contact Gayle Junnila at 651 757-1852 or gayle.junnila@state.mn.us

Cultural Heritage Tourism Workshops Sponsorship Opportunity
The Cultural Heritage Tourism Workshops being planned for this fall will bring together the many types of organizations that make up "Cultural Heritage Tourism" in Minnesota. Tourism businesses and vendors interested in marketing to this audience have the opportunity to sponsor the event.

The workshops are being offered in each region – dates and locations are listed below:

(NW) Thief River Falls – Thursday, August 13

(NE) North Shore – Thursday, October 1

(Metro) Saint Paul – Monday, October 5

(Southern) New Ulm – Wednesday, October 14

(Central) Sauk Centre – Monday, November 9

To learn more contact Gayle Junnila at 651 757-1852 or gayle.junnila@state.mn.us.

New Travel Trade Leads
Leads have been posted to the Travel Trade page on the Industry website for USTA’s International Pow Wow and Travel Alliance Partner’s (TAP). More detailed descriptions of both events are provided on the leads links http://industry.exploreminnesota.com/new-pow-wow-and-tap-leads-are-available/.

Electronic Marketing Tip
If you have a paid upgrade on www.ExploreMinnesota.com it is still important to keep your free listing current by using the extranet. Information such as your prices, dates of operation, contact people, address and phone numbers are all part of the basic free listing maintained at Explore Minnesota Tourism. The Explore Minnesota Tourism database is the information source for the Journey travel planning service and for www.ExploreMinnesota.com. Listings can be entered or updated directly by tourism businesses and organizations online at: extranet.exploreminnesota.com. For more information, contact Kim Fitzgerald at kim.fitzgerald@state.mn.us

Leisure and Hospitality Job Gains
According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Leisure & Hospitality jobs rebounded in May, up 7,100 jobs mostly in restaurants and bars. This occurred despite the fact that Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 8.2 percent in May. Five sectors added jobs, five sectors lost jobs, and one sector remained unchanged. To get more information, visit http://www.deed.state.mn.us/.

Travel Leadership Summit
The United States Travel Association (USTA) Travel Leadership Summit is September 16-17, 2009 in Washington DC. This is an opportunity to visit with Minnesota’s Congressional delegation and/or their staff on tourism issues of importance to our industry. USTA also host a breakfast with congressional/political speakers and an issues briefing. Please contact Colleen Tollefson at colleen.tollefson@state.mn.us or 651-757-1872 if you are interested in participating.

Meetings Guidance for Companies Receiving Taxpayer Assistance
The Treasury Department announced that the boards of directors of companies receiving taxpayer assistance must develop a company-wide policy for "excessive" expenditures in the areas of meetings, events and incentive travel. This policy must be kept on file with the Treasury Department.

The U.S. Travel Association has developed a suite of materials to help you help your customers. Although the Treasury Department’s rules only apply to companies that have taken taxpayer assistance, these tools can be helpful with all businesses and associations. We encourage your clients to adopt the model meetings and events policy developed by industry experts earlier this year. These materials are designed to help you educate your customers on our model policy and the benefits of meetings, events and incentive travel.

Links to resources

2009 American Indian Tourism Conference
Building Native Tourism: Pathways for Change
Online registration for AIANTA’s 2009 American Indian Tourism Conference, Building Native Tourism: Pathways for Change, is now open. Go to www.aianta.org/aitc and click on the Registration link. This year’s conference will take place September 20-23 at the Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort at Buffalo Thunder, located outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. For registration questions, contact Stacie Hart at Stacie@eventdynamicsinc.com or 206-935-0988.

25th anniversary Minnesota Community Pride competition
Take up the challenge and enter your community or community project in the 25th Anniversary Minnesota Community Pride competition. Participants will be showcased and the winners will be announced at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair.

The competition, which began June 2, will lift up and publicly recognize the energy and ingenuity of Minnesota’s communities in both overall community and economic development achievement, and innovations in specific disciplines, such as education, broadband deployment and application, health care, entrepreneurship support, arts & culture, and public finance and more.

Contest details, including application forms, timelines and contest criteria, and the Minnesota Community Exchange, are available at www.ReinventingMinnesota.org. Entry deadline is July 17; cash awards will go to the top winners in each category. You can also email jleonard@minnesotaruralpartners.org or call 651-303-5263 if you have questions.

If you’ve received this newsletter from a friend and wish to subscribe yourself please subscribe at EMT Express Subscriptions.

If you have an article you wish to submit for consideration, please contact: Colleen Tollefson, 651/757-1872, 800/657-3637.