Message from the President

Dear Industry Leaders, As we began 2021, we were cautiously optimistic that our industry would continue to see signs of recovery and that travel would once again return to our destination .

Due to the social unrest that occurred in Minneapolis in 2020, it was important to us to understand visitors’ feelings about traveling to our destination, especially regarding safety . This led us to embark on a brand sentiment study with our marketing agency, MMGY Global, the results of which produced positive feedback that we could incorporate into marketing messages . With the help of a grant that we received from the City of Bloomington‘s federal aid, we had additional resources to expand our marketing efforts to key markets . You will find an executive summary of this research later in this report .

As we continued to monitor our hotel occupancy weekly with Smith Travel Research, and as travel continued to show more stability, it was important that we look to the future . With the support of our board of directors, we created a new strategic plan that we believe clarifies our mission and vision as a destination marketing organization and will capitalize on changes and opportunities that are the new reality in the travel industry . This will serve as a foundation for our marketing activities in 2022 . We have included a summary of the plan in this annual report .

I want to thank our board of directors for their amazing support, my entire team for their dedication and good work, and most of all, you: our industry partners who make Bloomington the great destination it is .

Bonnie L . Carlson, CDME President & CEO, Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau