Derek James anchors Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts and contributes stories during the week on “The 4.”
For many hospitality and tourism businesses across Minnesota, the summer of 2025 was more bust than boom.
A new survey from the Minneapolis Fed and Hospitality Minnesota found declines in visitors, revenue, and profits across much of the industry.
“For those businesses along the border that really rely on car travel or easy travel, we’re seeing declines of up to 40%,” said Angie Whitcomb, President and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota.
One major issue: fewer Canadian tourists, especially in Northern Minnesota, impacting resorts and smaller operators already struggling with higher costs.
“When some of the talk first came out about tariffs with Canada and Canada perhaps becoming a 51st state. That wasn’t taken real well by some of the Canadians,” said Joe Henry, executive director of Lake of the Woods Tourism.
Across the board, businesses cited inflation, rising wages, and government policies as their top challenges.
“If restaurants and hotels are forced to continue to raise their prices because their prices are going up, then eventually that has to trickle down,” explained Whitcomb.
Some businesses are increasing prices, but fear losing customers if they go too far.
“They’re concerned that they’ll lose the consumers if they pass on too much of it. That means they’re taking a direct hit to the bottom line,” said Henry.
Despite the struggles, parts of Greater Minnesota fared slightly better, thanks in part to a strong fishing season in places like Lake of the Woods.
“We were up about 3% over last year for tourism. I think that’s pretty good,” said Henry.
