North Dakota Department of Commerce featured at Destinations International Summit for Statewide Reach of Visitor Spending

North Dakota's tourism marketing is drawing attention from destination leaders as new research from Arrivalist highlights the state as a leading example of how marketing-motivated visitor spending reaches and benefits communities of all sizes. The findings were presented Oct. 21 at Destinations International's 2026 Advocacy & Action: The Destination Impact Event in Ottawa, Ontario. North Dakota was featured there as a success story in a session on innovative advocacy metrics.

The presentation, "Purpose-Built for Advocacy: Dispersion Lift as North Dakota Tourism's Emerging Indicator," explored how North Dakota's tourism advertising motivates visitation and incremental spending across the state. New county-level spending data shows the wide distribution, or "dispersion," of visitor spending and demonstrates how marketing inspires travel to both rural and urban areas. This approach gives a clearer picture of tourism's return on investment by showing where visitor dollars are spent and how they support a healthy statewide visitor economy.

Arrivalist's statewide SpendLift analysis estimates that more than $30 million in incremental visitor spending has reached North Dakota counties since 2024. Incremental spending is the additional spending by travelers who saw North Dakota Tourism advertising compared with a matched group of travelers who did not. This geographic reach shows how tourism advertising generates economic benefits for communities of all sizes, strengthening local businesses well beyond the state's largest population centers.

The session was co-presented by Heather LeMoine, marketing and research manager for the North Dakota Department of Commerce, and Ktimene Axetell, CEO of Arrivalist. Together, they showed how destination organizations can use dispersion-focused measurement to build stronger, more inclusive advocacy, so that communities across a state can see their share in tourism's success.

"For years, we've known our marketing inspires travelers to explore North Dakota," LeMoine said. "One of the exciting pieces of this research is a clearer picture of where those visitor dollars are landing. Our advertising isn't only inspiring and motivating travel, it's getting visitors to do the extra thing. These results show that tourism marketing is creating measurable value for local businesses and communities of every size."

"One dimension of advocacy shows communities what tourism investment returns to them," said Ktimene Axetell. "North Dakota's results stand out because the benefits of its marketing don't stop at the largest cities. Visitor spending is reaching communities across the state, and that is the kind of evidence legislators and local leaders can act on."

North Dakota's leadership in applying these insights places the state at the forefront of tourism evaluation and advocacy and sets an example for destinations nationwide.

For more information about the 2026 Advocacy & Action: The Destination Impact Event, visit https://destinationsinternational.org/2026-advocacy-action-destination-impact-event.

About Arrivalist

Arrivalist is a Miami-based travel intelligence company that measures visitation and spending for destinations. Learn more at arrivalist.com

For more information about Commerce's tourism programs, visit https://www.commerce.nd.gov/tourism-marketing.