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 Commerce's Division of Tourism and Marketing has launched a newly enhanced website, NDtourism.com.
The enhanced site provides a plethora of information, photos and videos to showcase the vibrancy of the state with a new look and improved usability.
The site received the most visits ever in 2021 and that increased traffic and mobile use and necessitated several performance updates. While the visual and navigational improvements are most prominent, the focus was to ensure it continues to rank on page one within the Google Search engine from organic keywords.
NDtourism.com hosted 2,155,110 visits and provided 281,712 referrals to partner sites in 2021. The site traffic grew 26% in 2021 on top of a 52% increase in 2020.
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 Tourism Industry updates presented to partners
Stakeholders survey findings; the 2022 Media Plan, which identifies marketing strategies for the work of the Tourism Division; and a recap of the influencer engagement program were presented at the recent ND Tourism Industry Chat, along with insights of the 2021 advertising campaign that ran through December. Insights presented included new geographic markets, fresh tactics with targeted emails, and activity niches. The results of which were strong and gave additional insight and data on which to build the 2022 plan. Most importantly travel to North Dakota was up 42% over 2019, according to GPS data. North Dakota also saw increased visitation from all 50 states and retained a larger share of instate travelers. You can view the recorded chat and access the presentation here.
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 ND Tourism asset bank is a highly used resource
In 2021 there was a total of 14,900 new assets added the Asset Bank. These quality-of-life visuals assist our partners, state agencies and more in showcasing and promoting North Dakota. There was a total of 10,977 users in 2021, vs. 6,407 in 2020, which equated to a 71.33% increase in site acquisitions, and the top referrer by far, was NDtourism.com. Total image views were 384,195 resulting in 11,233 total downloads. Some of the most-viewed assets for 2021 included Tourism’s formatted itineraries and partner guides. The Asset Bank continues to be a valuable resource for many and we will continue to add more, so check back often.
Access tip: for the best selection of imagery register for an account by clicking on the person icon in the upper right corner.
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Promote your experiences on NDtourism.com
ND Tourism and Marketing recently announced the Partner Portal has been updated with new features and better integration for industry partners. Attraction and recreation providers, event planners and accommodation providers can utilize this resource to get their experiences listed on NDtourism.com for free.
Access tip: when first logging into the new system, you must hit “I forgot my password” you will receive an email requesting you reset your password, your username is your email address. The updated listing submission rules are available here, and a recording of the training session is available here, the Access passcode is 54un+=K^
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RoleCall names ND as the best state for level innovation
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RoleCall recently released their annual superlatives list and named North Dakota as the best state for level innovation! In their blog RoleCall wrote, "North Dakota is a small state that is thinking big. Like, really big. As we see in nearly every corner of the country, the state has a large number of jobs open and not enough people to fill them."
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Partners in Planning Grant applications deadline soon approaching!
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Commerce is currently accepting applications for the 2022 Partners in Planning (PiP) grant through Jan. 31, 2022.
The Main Street Initiative PiP Grant program supports nonprofit organizations and/or local governments in completing a comprehensive plan or economic
development/diversification strategic plan.
PiP will support two types of grants to non-profits and/or local governments in North Dakota:
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Comprehensive Plans – intended to partially fund the creation of a new comprehensive plan, or for an update to an existing comprehensive plan that is more than five years old.
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Economic Development/Diversification Strategic Plan – intended to partially fund the creation of a new economic development plan or for a comprehensive update to an existing plan that is more than five years old for a community and/or region.
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 LIFT awards are announced monthly. Apply today while funds remain available!
Did you know it only takes three simples steps to get approved for the Innovation Technology Loan Fund?
- Complete the application
- LIFT Committee reviews the application
- Applicant presents to the LIFT Committee
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