By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
The Northfield Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) recently gave a report on the state of tourism in Northfield. In the report, President of the CVB, Jane Bartho, shared how tourism was down, but that was part of a larger trend from across the state, citing data showing an increase in tourism immediately after the pandemic:
“It was people were just ready to get out, to get out. Events that had never occurred before happened in 2023. And record-breaking tourism, which was good for us, in 2024, kind of went back down to normal. It’s not a surprise, it’s normalizing itself.” – Jane Bartho, President of the Northfield CVB, at the 10/7/2025 City Council Meeting
According to Explore Minnesota data, overall, there was a 1-3% decrease in tourism in most parts of the state. However, interest has continued to rise in towns that offer outdoor experiences, biking trails, and large festivals. Factors that all Northfield caterers to in each season.
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The primary use of CVB dollars is for marketing campaigns to attract people to Northfield. It has included a mix of digital ads on social media and websites, billboards, and sending out printed visitors’ guides, of which 14,000 have been requested. However, Bartho cited a new partnership with the Star Tribune and Explore Minnesota as particularly impactful:
“Explore Minnesota comes up with co-op advertising or co-op opportunities for their DMOs in Minnesota. They vet the opportunities that they feel will best help us promote our communities, and then they buy down the cost so we can partner and buy into that advertising or that campaign at a lesser cost.” – Jane Bartho, President of the Northfield CVB, at the 10/7/2025 City Council Meeting
Bartho noted that the campaign had a higher success rate than the average campaign at the Star Tribune, with their average ad receiving a 15% click rate, and Northfield’s ad receiving a 22.9% click rate.
In total, the CVB spent $100,000 on advertising in 2025, reaching over a million people online alone. You can see the full report here.
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