For Immediate Release, May 14, 2008
Contact: Kelly Lessard (952) 431-9217

Minnesota Zoo & Valleyfair Team Up to Promote Summer Travel

Tourism Partners include Burnsville & Eagan Convention & Visitors Bureaus

Mpls/St. Paul, MN–May 14, 2008 – Two of Minnesota’s top attractions, Minnesota Zoo and Valleyfair, in partnership with the Burnsville and Eagan Convention & Visitors Bureaus, are teaming up to promote travel to the Twin Cities this summer.

The tourism partners are banking on more in-state travel due to high gas prices and economic uncertainty and have committed to a $50,000 marketing campaign in select markets throughout Minnesota.

“We continue to see travel trends that reinforce the notion of more locally-based vacations, also known as staycations,” said Bill Von Bank, director of marketing at the Minnesota Zoo.

The Minnesota Zoo is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and on June 7 is opening Russia’s Grizzly Coast, a multi-million dollar exhibit, featuring grizzly bears, sea otters, Amur leopards and wild boars.

Valleyfair, in its 32nd year of operation, is the largest amusement park in the upper Midwest and is a major draw for summer travelers to the metro area. Valleyfair is now open for the 2008 season.

Both the Burnsville and Eagan Convention & Visitors Bureaus see value in this partnership, based on their location to the attractions and their diversity of hotels and motels in their cities.

“While we all have our own individual marketing goals, this partnership makes sense, and we are eager to see the results,” noted Brent Cory, executive director of the Eagan Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In addition to marketing to greater Minnesota, Canadian travelers will also be targeted, specifically in Thunder Bay, Ontario – due North of Minnesota. The weak U.S. dollar is fueling more Canadian spending in Minnesota.