2023 Annual Impact Report

Letter from Board Chair Liz Xiong
Marketing
Sales
Partnership
Board of Directors
Staff

A word from our Mayor

We are at an exciting moment in Saint Paul’s history. Our city has grown by nearly 20,000 people over the past decade. Our downtown and neighborhoods are changing to reflect the vitality and diversity of our community. Our attractions, hotels, and restaurants continue to draw people from across our region. With this growth and change, we have an incredible opportunity to build an even more welcoming, inclusive and vibrant city.

Developments like Osborn 370, the Treasure Island Center and RiversEdge have brought new energy into downtown. The Highland Bridge and Heights housing projects stand to transform our city. Our hometown teams like the Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Professional Women's Hockey, Saint Paul Saints, and Minnesota United continue to attract fans from all over our state.

Our Xcel Energy Center is the first and only NHL building in the United States to be certified LEED Platinum for Building Operations and Maintenance, and Saint Paul RiverCentre is now one of only three convention centers in the United States to possess this same certification.

Through our Cultural Destination Areas, we invite residents and visitors alike to experience the rich diversity of our neighborhoods, ensuring that economic prosperity reaches all corners of our city. And, our country’s most iconic river, the mighty Mississippi, runs through Saint Paul, providing us with more river frontage than any city in America.

We’ve got an amazing story to tell and a bright future ahead. I’m grateful for the partnership of Visit Saint Paul and its member businesses in amplifying our story. Together, we are building a city that truly works for all of us. I am thrilled to be your teammate in the work ahead.

Melvin Carter, Mayor, City of Saint Paul

Pictured: Jaimee Lucke Hendrikson, Mayor Carter & Chris Harrington
Credit: Lauren Cutshall
WAKPA Triennial Art Festival, 2023
Credit: Lauren Cutshall

A word from our Board Chair

2023 was an incredible year of growth. We welcomed the amazing Jaimee Hendrikson as our new CEO and President, doubled our team of professionals, expanded our partnerships with local businesses and community events, and won the international bid to host the 2026 World Junior Championship!

Our numbers also speak for themselves: every metric is on the rise, thanks to the hard work and creativity of an incredible team at VSP. From the unique marketing campaigns such as Summer Mix Playlist and Saint Paulidays, to our captivating website, social media, and email performance, we proudly show off Saint Paul every day.

Our sales team has continued to book events regularly, and our partnerships with local businesses and organizations are stronger than ever. As we look to the future, we'll continue to push boundaries, embrace innovative ideas, and unabashedly proclaim to the world why Saint Paul is the place to be, see, and believe in.

I want to give a huge, heartfelt thank you to our board members, staff, and partners. You all bring your expertise, commitment to excellence, pure talent, and dedication, which make the VSP magic happen.

Liz Xiong, Board Chair, Visit Saint Paul

Marketing and Social Media

VisitSaintPaul.com

  • 1,036,450 sessions (up 20% from 2022)
  • 809,963 users (up 20% from 2022)
  • 1,717,703 pageviews (up 20% from 2022)
  • 70,954 outbound clicks to partner listings

Social Media

  • 149,471 followers (up 7% from 2022)

E-mail Marketing

  • 24,588 subscribers (+26%)
  • The GO LIST: 49% open rate | 9.9% Click to open rate
  • Dine Saint Paul: 49% open rate | 13.2% Click to open rate
  • The Insider: 45% open rate | 12% click to open rate
Pictured: Little Africa Festival, 2023
Credit: Lauren Cutshall
Pictured: YouthLens360, Hailey Sault & Visit Saint Paul Team

Launched Patio Passport

June to September:

  • 1,800+ Sign-ups
  • 650+ Check-ins

Creation of 4 new videos in partnership with Hailey Sault and YouthLens360

Campaigns


Summer Mix Play List

This 3-month campaign leveraged Saint Paul's very unique summer schedule of diverse and dynamic events to connect with targeted personas, providing travelers with recurring reasons to visit Saint Paul.
The campaign paired interest and intent in attending these events to cross-sell Saint Paul’s primary
tourism interests including: hotels, restaurant experiences, attractions, shopping and outdoor activities.

  • 4,146,826 Impressions
  • 767,245 unique people received the ads
  • 20,563 Clicks
  • 2,419 Leads
  • 1,096 email sign-ups

Saint Paulidays

This comprehensive digital marketing effort kicked-off with the lighting of Rice Park and ran through New Year’s.
Focusing on the wide variety of holiday events in Saint Paul, the campaign provided reasons to visit Saint Paul and experience some of its Holiday magic. Email sign-ups were captured to build long-term relationships with visitors by communicating about the ongoing events, markets, restaurants, cultural celebrations and theater happening every week in Saint Paul.

Campaign Results:

  • 1,748,304 Impressions
  • 24,589 Clicks
  • 642 Email sign-ups
  • 1,967 Total Leads

Visit Saint Paul was also a partner on the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance’s “Your Place” Campaign

To drive awareness of the energy, safety and thriving spirit alive and well in downtown Saint Paul, 4 videos were created each targeting a key visitor persona. A landing page provides info on all the things to see and do in Downtown Saint Paul and phase 1 of the campaign resulted in over 2 Million impressions.

Festival Marketing Support

Thanks to tourism recovery funding from the City of Saint Paul, Visit Saint Paul was able to pilot an Event Marketing Program to support community and cultural festivals in Saint Paul. Over 20 events received promotion through media provided by Visit Saint Paul. This included VisitSaintPaul.com website features, inclusion in email marketing ( The Insider, Go List and Dine Saint Paul), social media, MPR underwriting, digital billboards and onsite photography, resulting in:

  • 2000+ new images
  • Over 1.3 Million billboard impressions
  • 150K+ boosted social reach and 3K clicks
  • 70,000+ visits to VisitSaintPaul.com
  • 28K referral clicks to festival websites
Pictured: IndiaFest, 2023

Sales Bookings

In 2023, the Visit Saint Paul sales team booked 119 Groups resulting in 55,956 future room nights - an increase of 8% from 2022. The estimated economic impact of these future bookings is $41.3 Million.

Some of those key events:

National Youth Leadership Council

April 2024

EcoAdapt

May 2024

Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology

June 2024

Independent Book Publishers Association

May 2025

Grantmakers in the Arts

October 2025

Special Olympics International

June 2026

Hotel Performance

Pictured: Courtyard St. Paul Downtown, opened July 2023

While Saint Paul’s hotel performance hasn’t returned to 2019 levels, numbers continue to improve over recent years.

  • 50.3% occupancy rate
  • $144.69 Average daily rate
  • $72.77 RevPAR
  • 294.3K annual demand
  • $42.6M annual revenue

2023 Partnership Highlights

Taste of Saint Paul, 2023
  • 6 MyVSP events with average registration over 90 attendees
  • 43 new members
  • Continued increase of partners returning post-pandemic
  • Addition of Marketing & Partnership Coordinator to the team
  • Return of our signature event, Taste of Saint Paul
  • National Travel & Tourism Week Celebration with events at Hmongtown Marketplace, Flava Coffee & Cafe, Open Arms Minnesota and Apostle Supper Club.

2023 MyVSP Member Meetings

January

  • Wabasha Street Caves | Preview of Wakpa Triennial Art Festival

March

  • Minnesota Humanities Center | Meet the new SPPD Chief, Axel Henry

May

  • Saint Paul RiverCentre | RiverCentre's 25th anniversary & Summer festivals

July

  • The Lowlands | Ask Me Anything session on hospitality technology with NCXT

September

  • Ordway Center | Hear from our new President & CEO

November

  • Union Depot | Saint Paul Winter Carnival and holiday happenings!
Pictured: Jaimee Lucke Hendrikson, President & CEO

2023 Visit Saint Paul Board of Directors

Liz Xiong

Chair

LIUNA

Emma Burns

Vice Chair

Saint Paul Downtown Alliance

Rich Ginsberg

Secretary

Rotunda Group

Michael Solomon

Treasurer

Minnesota Housing

John Marshall

Past Chair

Xcel Energy, Inc

Michael Bauerle

Delta Air Lines

June Berkowitz

Nina's Cafe

Krystle Cruz-Williams

City of Saint Paul

Richard Dobransky

Morrissey Hospitality

Amanda Heu

Commander of Saint Paul Police Department

Mimi Daly Larson

MDL Strategy Solutions

Wade Luneburg

UNITE HERE Minnesota

Rebecca Noecker

Saint Paul City Council

Jane Prince

Councilmember – Ward 7; Saint Paul City Council

Chris Tolbert

Councilmember – Ward 3; Saint Paul City Council

Holland Tudor

InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront

Visit Saint Paul Staff

Who We Are

The RiverCentre Convention and Visitor Authority (RCVA), operating as Visit Saint Paul, serves as the official convention and visitors bureau for Saint Paul, Minnesota's capital city. Our primary goal is to drive economic growth in Saint Paul by effectively promoting the RiverCentre campus, Saint Paul, and the region as a premier convention and tourism destination for diverse cultures and groups.

Working under contract with the city of Saint Paul, Visit Saint Paul manages the city-owned convention center and ramp while also acting as the Destination Marketing entity, showcasing Saint Paul’s brand to attract visitors and secure conventions, meetings, and events for the city.

Saint Paul Arena Company is engaged by Visit Saint Paul to oversee the Saint Paul RiverCentre, the renowned Roy Wilkins Auditorium, and the RiverCentre Ramp. Our combined efforts contribute to the community by fostering economic growth and positioning the city as a top choice for conventions and tourism.

Through our partnership with the city, our teams leverage our expertise in destination knowledge, brand management, facility operations, and promotional activities to attract, market, sell, and engage with potential visitors. By focusing on initiatives that drive visitor traffic, we enhance Saint Paul's economic standing and vibrancy, creating opportunities for all residents of the city. Our vision is to enrich our community by boldly and creatively evolving the positive impact Visit Saint Paul creates as we invite the world to fall in love with our vibrant city. We do this work in alignment with our values of Integrity, Optimism, Belonging and Creativity.