Eleven people besides the five Tofte town officials attended the Tofte town board meeting Thursday, October 8, 2009. One of them was Bill Hansen of Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, there to propose collaboration that could make the Cook County tourist industry more competitive nationally.
On behalf of the Lutsen- Tofte Tourism Association (LTTA), Hansen proposed that all the local tourism marketing associations – LTTA, the Grand Marais Area Tourism Association (GMATA), the Gunflint Trail Association (GTA), the Cook County Event s& Visitors Bureau, and possibly business partners such as Lutsen Mountains and Grand Portage Casino— join to form one entity that would work together to promote the entire county. Right now, Hansen said, they appear to be competing against each other instead of against the real competition – large tourist attractions such as Disneyworld and the Mall of America.
Regional tourism bureaus are becoming more prevalent across the nation, Hansen said. He pointed out that the amenities in Cook County tend to benefit each other – Bluefin Bay benefits Lutsen Mountains, Lutsen Mountains benefits Grand Marais, Grand Marais benefits the Gunflint Trail, etc. Over the last decade, profits in certain portions of the county, such as the West End, have not kept pace with the cost of doing business, however.
Combining efforts would streamline the cost of marketing because separate staffs would not be needed, and just one board of owners and managers would be needed instead of the four boards that exist now. Who would be on that board could be a bone of contention among regions of the county, however. The proposal outlines a board composition based on the number of dollars contributed – a 12-member board would have two representatives from GMATA, two representatives from GTA, one representative from Grand Portage—and seven from the West End.
In recent months, Schroeder Township supervisors have discussed their displeasure with the Lutsen-Tofte Tourism Association, saying it will only promote the businesses that pay and will promote them in the degree to which they pay, rather than promoting the entire area.
At the Tofte meeting, board chair Paul James asked if it wouldn’t be better if representatives from the townships were represented on a combined marketing management company board.
Dennis Rysdahl, owner of Bluefin Bay, said he realized different areas of the county would have concerns about losing control of priorities, events, and funds. Having each separate tourism association choose its own representatives for the board could alleviate some of those concerns, he said.
Bill Hansen said he thought James’ suggestion was a great one and would bring it back to the LTTA board. James said he could envision people outside the West End feeling the representation wasn’t fair.
Sitting in the audience was Jim King, who said he ran a nonprofit agency in Montana that combined four agencies. Although some conflict occurred, the merger worked.
Hansen noted that both Lutsen Mountains and the Grand Portage Casino have
expressed interest in a combined
yes marketing entity.
After Hansen’s proposal, King read a letter he had written to the Tofte board on behalf of the Tofte Historical Society regarding a related issue: The LTTA has been considering moving its offices out of the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum in Tofte.
“The fishing museum is committed to remaining available to assist the traveling public enjoy and utilize the many attractions our area has to offer,” King read. “We also recognize that in order to do so, we need to upgrade our facility to meet the needs of LTTA if we are to keep them as ‘tenants’ or be prepared to offer an alternative should they decide to seek a new location or reorganize with other tourism groups within the county.
“…We request that up to 5% of the lodging tax funding collected in Tofte be made available for this purpose, either on an individual project basis, or a steady income stream….”
The 5% to which King referred would not reduce the amount LTTA gets from lodging taxes collected in Tofte, but rather would represent the money allotted for administrative costs related to collecting the tax. The county currently gets 1% of the administrative margin, which would leave 4% available for Tofte to use as it sees fit, but only as long as it fits within the legal requirement for how that money can be used. King pointed out that the fishing museum runs on a shoestring budget, and its membership is aging. “The next decade could wipe out 30% of our people,” he said. “It is a crisis.”
Bill Hansen suggested to King that the Tofte Historical Society work with LTTA to either keep LTTA offices in the fishing museum or get it to help fund the museum.
“We can’t even get a lease from LTTA,” King responded.
The LTTA board will vote October 21 on whether to pursue a merging of the Cook County tourism associations.
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