Canadian Arrivals To Minnesota Fall Significantly This Year

UNDATED (WJON News) -- International travel to Minnesota remains slow. A new report released by Explore Minnesota looks at the travel numbers so far this year. The bulk of the report is focused on state-level spring/summer season trends from April to August 2025.

For air travel, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport had 16.5 million passengers during that period. This is a 2.8 percent, or a 500,000-person decrease from 2024.

Business activity was down for 51 percent of Minnesota tourism participating businesses, up for 30 percent, and about the same as 2024 for 21 percent.

For 2025 through August, Canadian arrivals to Minnesota are down 18 percent so far this year, compared to 2024.

January - down 4%
February - down 14%
March - down 21%
April - down 30%
May - down 22%
June - down 16%
July - down 19%
August - down 19%

International States Travel is forecasting a 15 percent decrease in year-over-year international visitation to Minnesota in 2025. The change is driven by an estimated 24 percent decrease in Canadian visitation and a four percent decrease in overseas visitors.

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Hotel occupancy rates for the entire United States are at 63.5 percent, which is down 0.8 percent year over year.

Northern states' hotel occupancy rates are down 5.7 percent in Maine, 5.2 percent in North Dakota, 4.9 percent in Vermont, 3.5 percent in Montana, 1.8 percent in Alaska, and 1.3 percent in Washington.

Hotel occupancy is up 1.3 percent in Minnesota.

By Minnesota Region:
Northwestern MN - down 3.7 percent
Northeastern MN - down 1.1 percent
Central MN - down 0.7 percent
Southern MN - up 0.8 percent
Twin Cities Metro - up 1.3 percent