Transportation Barriers Affecting International Visitors to Minnesota

The lack of international tourists to Minnesota is due to many factors. Minnesota is mainly a regional destination, with the majority of tourists coming from within the state and adjacent states. The majority of visitors drive to arrive in Minnesota. Barriers preventing more international tourists from visiting Minnesota were investigated, using a variety of methods ranging from focus group analysis to a mail questionnaire targeting the German long haul market. Barriers were grouped into four categories: functional, perceptual, logistical, policy. The primary barrier identified is a private sector policy imposed by airlines. The decision not to allow stopover visits or open jaw tickets without a substantial change in the price of an air ticket works against spontaneous or planned short visits to relatively unknown destinations. Should this policy based access barrier be removed, a public/private partnership would be needed to promote stopovers in Minnesota.