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Ski season is in full stride, and you know what that means: It’s time for Volks Ski.

Did you know that we’ve got over 400 km of groomed cross-country ski trails in Cook County? (That’s the biggest such network in North America.)

Volks Ski 400 is a season-long challenge that celebrates our trails and active way of life. Here’s how it works:

1.) Sign up at VolksSki.com.

2.) Go skiing! Remember, you can check trail conditions on the CCVB website: XC Ski Trail Conditions

3.) Track the trails you skied using the Volks Ski website. (Remember you can also count km skied as part of the Move It in February challenge!)

4.) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the end of ski season.

Wait, there’s more! For every ski day you log, you will get an entry into a drawing to win a Cook County adventure vacation.

Hope to see you out there! Carpe skiem! Ski you soon! That’s all, Volks!

Sincerely,

the pun-loving–er, fun-loving–staff of the Cook County Visitors Bureau

[PHOTO OF SAW-WHET OWL] Hello, I’m adorable.

An estimated 70-80% of the county’s economy is tied to tourism.

An adult northern saw-whet owl weighs about 4 ounces–same as a stick of butter.

One of the many ways we do that is by representing Cook County at events. Last week, executive director Sally Nankivell and I spent three days at the Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Adventure Expo in Minneapolis, chatting with folks about winter recreation and travel.

Yours truly chatting with two expo attendees.

I didn’t want to plaster pictures of myself all over this post, but I had to share this shot of Sheep Guy, who stopped by promoting wool long underwear. Judging by the amount of attention he garnered, we need a giant moose head for our next show.

Barbara Jean photo by Melissa Koch.

Grand Marais musician Barbara Jean, who recently moved to Minneapolis, gave the CCVB a shout-out in an interview with the City Pages Gimme Noise blog:

Where I’ve been living in Grand Marais, things have really taken off on a local level the last several years. The Cook County Visitors Bureau made a decision to invest in the local music scene by using tourism tax dollars to help pay musicians to play at resorts, restaurants and pubs along the North Shore. Because of that kind of support musicians, myself included, really have had a lot of opportunity to get out and play.

Thanks, Barbara Jean!

Check out the rest of the interview–it’s a great read: 
http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2012/11/barbara_jean_interview.php

You might be wondering why we are starting a new blog when we already have a blog. Here’s why: A lot of our work promoting tourism to Cook County happens behind the scenes (like assisting travel writers who are doing stories on Cook County) or in target markets outside the area (such as the Twin Cities). So folks here aren’t always clear on who we are and what we do.

The purpose of this blog is twofold:

1.) Familiarize everyone with the CCVB
2.) Provide short-and-sweet updates about what we are doing

Who we are
The Cook County Visitors Bureau is an organization dedicated to promoting Cook County tourism through marketing and events.

Tourism nourishes the economic and cultural vitality of Cook County. Did you know that up to 80% of our economy is tied to tourism? That figure includes direct tourism spending (a visitor purchases a gift) and indirect tourism spending (a resort employee spends part of his or her paycheck on groceries).

The CCVB formed in May 2010 as a management company with six partner organizations:

• Cook County Events and Visitors Bureau
• Grand Marais Area Tourism Association
• Lutsen-Tofte Tourism Association
• Gunflint Trail Association
• Grand Portage Tourism
• Lutsen Mountains Corporation

Joining forces made sense for many reasons. Here are two of the major ones:

1. By combining resources, we can reach many more people than communities could individually. Our summer marketing campaign, for example, garnered over 2 million impressions.
2. By marketing the county as a whole (while still showcasing the names and unique offerings of each community), we can inspire visitors to extend their stays and explore different parts of the county.

The next post will cover what we do and what we are up to now. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely
Shelby Gonzalez, Marketing Manager