 |
|
|
|
Latest News
Latest News Stories
Don't miss out on any of the great activities happening in North Dakota. Stay informed. Click on the links below to read or watch the latest stories about North Dakota.
|
Tourism Training in Watford City
Tourism officials meet with Northwest Tourism Partners on the first of five workshops that will be held throughout North Dakota. Click here for the complete video!
|
More Visitors at TRNP in 2009
Despite a weak economy, 2009 brought more visitors to national parks across the country, including Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora.
"In a lot of cases, park visitation tends to go up when the economy is bad," said Eileen Andes, chief of interpretation and public affairs at TRNP. "That could have to do with value. People are looking for value these days and national parks really are a good value."
In 2008, about 516,800 visitors stopped at TRNP and though 2009 numbers will not be finalized until the end of February, about 579,000 were reported to have visited the park.
The U.S. has 58 national parks and of those, TRNP ranks 31st for visitation numbers.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina took the top seat for visitation, sitting at about 9.5 million for 2009.
Campgrounds in TRNP also saw a spike in occupants.
"In a normal year our campground, especially the South Unit, would fill maybe fewer than a half dozen times in a summer season," Andes said. "But this year, we went at one point over 40 nights in a row where the campground was full. That is really incredible."
Judie Chrobak-Cox, TRNP's South Unit district interpreter, also said full campgrounds generally only occur about a dozen times a season and this year was an exception.
Butch Street, management analyst for the National Park Service, said he attributes most of the increase to foreign visitors.
Street said many foreign travelers will visit up to 40 parks during their vacation, adding to the increased numbers more so than domestic visitors do.
"Anecdotally, it does seem like there is a little bit of an increase in foreign visitation and that's because how the dollar is doing against other countries," said Kathy Kupper, spokesperson for the NPS in Washington, D.C.
Street said the presidential inauguration brought an additional 2 million visitors through the Park Service in 2009.
Kupper said several factors are a driving force in higher national park visitor numbers, one being "nature deficit disorder."
Kupper said the NPS feels another driving factor in increased numbers is the desire to take "long weekend vacations."
"You can make it as economical as you'd like as a vacation," Kupper said. "It's easier to get away for these shorter trips than the grand two- week vacation."
Despite other states reporting higher park numbers paired with lower accommodation numbers, North Dakota's stayed parallel.
Heather LeMoine, marketing manager for the North Dakota Tourism Division, said accommodations statewide put North Dakota ahead of the game.
State parks and national parks had a good year, LeMoine said. "We know North Dakota was really just defying the nation in how well the accommodation sector was doing."
LeMoine said North Dakota was the only state that didn't have to discount hotel rooms in order to fill hotels.
The U.S. Travel Association cited 2009 as one of travel's most challenging periods, according to a North Dakota Tourism Division's newsletter.
NDTD reported that in the third quarter of 2009, the state saw 326,110 visitors to the state's national park, as compared to 278,629 in the third quarter of 2008.
|
North Dakota - NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams features Bismarck and Commerce's own Talent Marketing Coordinator Sarah Johnson in this spot from 12/5/2009. Click here for the complete video
|
A bonanza of birds
As you enter the fertile, rolling Red River valley in eastern North Dakota, you are greeted by a sign: "Bonanzaville."
Though it applies specifically to a local fairground, the word aptly sums up the expectations of visiting hunters.
As I drove west on I-94 to Bismarck recently for a few days of hunting, I thought it might also serve as a new slogan for the Peace Garden State.
North Dakota has long produced fortunes in corn and wheat. And there is increasing activity in oil and gas.
But with due respect to such commerce, the wild riches of the prairies and potholes are far bigger tourism draws and arguably more valuable.
Click here for the complete article provided by Journal Sentinel.
|
N.D. agritourism just getting started
A tourist attraction can look a lot like a dairy farm, a grape vineyard or a cattle ranch.
Ordinary farm life isn't so ordinary to many. Yet North Dakota is just getting started when it comes to agritourism - the business of combining agriculture with tourism.
"It's just the perfect merger of our state's two largest industries," said Sara Otte Coleman, director of the North Dakota Tourism Division.
Click here for the complete article from Bismarck Tribune.
|
Warm welcome for businesses in North Dakota
The US state, North Dakota, is attracting companies with its robust economy and relative stability. Click here for the complete article.
|
Where the Jobs Are
One state has the national unemployment average beat. Insight with North Dakota governor John Hoeven (R). Governor Hoeven speaks with CNBC. Click here to watch the video!
|
Fencing Volunteers
For many clean-up from this spring's flooding is far from over.
Tonight Ag. Reporter Sarah Gustin takes us along the Cannonball River where some ranchers are getting a little extra help putting the pieces back together.
Click here for the complete article!
|
CANDISC Riders Enjoy ND
They come from around the country to tour our state, and luckily, they don't have to worry about Gas Prices.
They're cyclists participating in the 2009 CANDISC Bike Tour, and this year, they're pedalling through eastern North Dakota.
Click here for the complete article!
|
Governor John Hoeven speaks with Fox Business News - Economy
Gov. Hoeven visited Fox Business News today and talked about “Bucking the Trend”: our state’s $700M surplus, fastest growing economy and lowest unemployment rate in the nation. Click here to watch the video!
|
Out on the Road in North Dakota
Summer is here and one way would-be travelers can save money and still see some interesting sights is by taking a road trip in North Dakota. Click here for complete details.
Article provided by The Jamestown Sun.
|
Where are the jobs? North Dakota
North Dakota companies are recruiting workers from around the nation. The state has escaped the economic meltdown plaguing the rest of the country. Click here for the complete article.
|
Postcard from Bismarck
Want to make jokes about North Dakota? Sure, the state's got three times as many cattle as people, and a typical day in January is a balmy 20°F. But the folks who live here, unlike those in many other parts of the country, have jobs. And not only haven't they felt the bite of the housing-market collapse, but their houses have actually inched up in value.
Click here for the complete article.
|
Minot's marketing team goes mainstream
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users will have the opportunity over the coming months to add a new friend to their network - the Minot Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Click here for the complete details.
|
Summer Travel
After being pent up all winter dealing with the snow and freezing cold temperatures, its not a surprise that North Dakotans are excited for summer. Click here to watch the video!
|
`Passport to North Dakota` Opens Eyes to State Tourism
The state Tourism Department is counting on two new tools to bring tourists to North Dakota this summer and inspire residents to stay close to home.
Tesoro Refinery donated $25,000 to the Historical Society to distribute an updated "Passport to North Dakota History" booklet.
It includes sketches and photos of more than 60 historic sites, state parks, scenic byways, and wildlife refuges.
The Historical Society also announced a new program called History on Call, which offers narration about the historic sites in the Passport that travelers can access by phone.
"Both these tools will definitely help direct travelers to our attractions which these historic attractions really do tell the unique North Dakota story," says Sara Otte Coleman, of the ND Department of Tourism. "They showcase our legends and the history that really makes our part of the world legendary."
The US Forest Service donated $15,000 for the History on Call Program.
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
