North Dakota

2025 tourism dip in ND reflects national trend

Published

2 months ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

2025 tourism dip in ND reflects national trend

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – Tourism is a vital part of our state’s economy, supporting businesses and jobs.

New data shows North Dakota saw a dip in visitors last year: 6.5% less than in previous years.

Visit Minot Executive Director Stephanie Shoenrock told city leaders the Magic City saw a 6.7% reduction in visitors last year.

“Tourism is down in the United States, tourism is down in North Dakota and tourism is down in Minot slightly,” said Schoenrock.

Canadian visitors drive a significant portion of the state’s tourism, with Visit Minot monitoring six entry ports in our region.

Shoenrock reports the state saw a 25% decrease in Canadian traffic. And for Minot? A 20% dip.

“Does that 20% hurt? It does. You know what, we were 100% down during the COVID shutdown. And we’ve worked very, very hard, and we’ve seen good impacts,” said Schoenrock.

They also track data from websites, social media, hotels and ticketed events like the State Fair, which Shoenrock said continues to be the top destination for Canadians.

Minot City Council Member Lisa Olson said she hears from Canadians regularly, and wondered if the opening of the Presidential Library in Medora this summer could attract more visitors.

“The Canadians aren’t coming because they’re dissatisfied with what’s being offered in the U.S. Until that changes, I don’t know if they’ll come back— unless you have heard something different,” said Olson.

Shoenrock acknowledged the decline in visitors, but emphasized that Canadians continue to visit.

“Yes, we are down. But we are not as far down as what some entities would like to believe,” said Schoenrock.

Visitors are considered people who live more than 50 miles away and spend at least four hours in the Magic City.

“We have expectations that we’re here for a reason, and that is to bring more humans into Ward County. And I can tell you that is not lost on us, regardless of what the trends are like in the state,” said Schoenrock.

Despite the overall dip, the Visitors Center welcomed people from all 50 states by July last year, along with visitors from 31 other countries.

The top five states Minot saw visitors from are Minnesota, Texas, California, Florida and Montana.

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North Dakota

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Published

2 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.

Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.

“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”

The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.

As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.

Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.

Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.

“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”

North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.

One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.

With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.

“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”

The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.

It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.

“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”

For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.

With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.

“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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