At Destinations International's 2026 Advocacy & Action: The Destination Impact Event in Ottawa, the North Dakota Department of Commerce was featured as a success story for a new way to make the case for tourism: showing where marketing-motivated visitor spending lands.

On October 21, Heather LeMoine, marketing and research manager for the North Dakota Department of Commerce, and Ktimene Axetell, CEO of Arrivalist, co-presented “Purpose-Built for Advocacy: Dispersion Lift as North Dakota Tourism’s Emerging Indicator.” The session shared county-level results from Arrivalist’s statewide SpendLift™ analysis, which 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.

The results show that North Dakota’s marketing inspires travel to rural and urban communities alike, giving a clearer picture of tourism’s return on investment and stronger evidence for advocacy.

“Our advertising isn’t only inspiring and motivating travel, it’s getting visitors to do the extra thing,” said LeMoine. “These results show that tourism marketing is creating measurable value for local businesses and communities of every size.”

“North Dakota’s results stand out because the benefits of its marketing don’t stop at the largest cities,” said Axetell. “Visitor spending is reaching communities across the state, and that is the kind of evidence legislators and local leaders can act on.”

Read the full press release at ND Commerce ⟶

Read the coverage in the Bismarck Tribune ⟶

Read the coverage on WDAY Radio ⟶