Melvin Tennant onstage at the Destination Minneapolis 2025 annual meeting. Photo Credit: Coppersmith Photography courtesy of Meet Minneapolis
In the wake of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shootings of Minneapolis residents Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 and Renee Good on Jan. 7, Meet Minneapolis president and CEO Melvin Tennant shared his thoughts on the impact of the enforcement action, protests, violence and ensuing media coverage to the city’s business travel and meetings communities. The CVB head sat down with Elizabeth West, vice president of content for Northstar Travel Group’s Business Travel News, a sister brand of Northstar Meetings Group.
Strong January meetings business
Despite the political tensions, protests and violence unfolding on the ground, January has been a strong month for meetings and events in a city that can be challenged in normal years to fill the calendar with winter-months bookings. The Minneapolis Convention Center has welcomed the Twin Cities Auto Show, Minnesota School Boards Association meetings, the Minneapolis Boat Show and the Totally Rad Vintage Fest earlier this month. Those events, and a Minnesota Vikings game against the Green Bay Packers, drove strong hotel occupancy in the city proper in the early weeks of January. In fact, according to Meet Minneapolis' figures, which are sourced from CoStar data firm STR, the city’s Jan. 1-10 occupancy increased 37 percent vs. the same period last year.
The fact that occupancy was just 36.1 percent over that period speaks to the city’s typical January challenges. The following week’s occupancy was down 11 percent year-over-year, however, and for the week ending Jan. 24, occupancy dipped by just over 3 percent.
Navigating Minneapolis travel
It’s difficult to assess the specific effects that canceled business travel and meetings are having on those numbers, and how much might be counteracted by the presence of ICE agents, media professionals or other enforcement- or protest-related room nights in local hotels. And similarly, it remains to be seen how the ongoing immigration enforcement action, political rhetoric and localized violence will affect the industry in the longer term.
Two business travel-related firms—World Travel Protection, a dedicated risk management agency, and TravelPoolEurope, a European member-owned travel management collective — each said their clients were asking for increased guidance for cities where ICE presence is active or avoiding travel there. If travel is required, according to the risk firm, some clients are opting for day trips when possible, avoiding overnight stays.
Following is Tennant's conversation with Northstar’s Business Travel News, edited for clarity and length.
Northstar: How are you and Meet Minneapolis, the board and staff holding up in the aftermath of the ICE killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good?
Melvin Tennant: Thank you for asking. Obviously, everybody is emotional about things that have happened, particularly whenever there's a loss of life. But we also have very dedicated, engaged members of our team and business owners that represent our board.
Probably the one thing that I've seen most prominently is our team wanting to help friends and neighbors, our board members and business owners. We have a board member who's a restaurateur [who has been out] delivering egg rolls to one of the police department precincts. And that's just one example of a bigger thing you don't want to forget. In the whole midst of this sociopolitical issue, there’s a human side. It's difficult for a city like ours in the crosshairs of this sociopolitical issue. We don't always have control over it, we don't know from day to day how this going to play out.
Northstar: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials are on the Meet Minneapolis board of directors. Does the organization have its own viewpoint of ICE's work and the protests that have flared in its wake?
Tennant: We're very much aligned with what the city has said, and that's not meant to be a cop-out. … What I will say is that since we are dependent upon small businesses and many of the workers, we know that this is impacting our ability at times to provide the service to visitors that we'd like. But I am so proud of the way that our hospitality community stayed focused on keeping the promises Meet Minneapolis makes. Because of course, as a destination organization, we don't have hotel rooms to sell or restaurant seats to fill, so we have to rely on those partners. So we've been even more closely aligned with the businesses that we rely on to provide the visitor experience.
Yesterday we had our monthly hotel community meeting with directors of sales and general managers. We provided them with the latest information as we know it. We, of course, work with other business associations; our Chamber [of Commerce], our downtown council, our regional economic development organizations are all doing things that really focus on the human element, because that is what's at the core of this.
Northstar: Meet Minneapolis has emphasized the human element in its 10-year master plan that rolled out formally about a year ago. Among its six "big ideas" were two that focused on civil rights and social justice initiatives: 1) Embracing Minneapolis as a catalyst of the modern-day civil rights movement, and 2) Developing an iconic event that showcases Minneapolis' commitment to social justice. It may be difficult to think about this now, but do initiatives like that feel threatened in any way? Do they become more important than ever?
Tennant: Our Destination Master Plan was approved by our board … but it was a very thoughtful process wherein more than 2,000 people in the community — customers, members of media, businesses, a lot of individuals — funneled their thoughts and views into that plan. Keep in mind it was on the heels of George Floyd being murdered in South Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. That was fresh on people's minds. But as an organization, we have always looked at equity and community impact as a priority. We have a department within our organization that focuses on that and will continue to do so.
"As an organization, we have always looked at equity and community impact as a priority."
Now that's a 10-year plan, so we haven't gotten to everything yet. The two areas we are currently most excited about are presenting Minneapolis as the No. 1 city for women's sports and, secondly, creating a world-class convention center district. Those two have taken a lot of our attention over the last year, but we continue to be a staunch advocate for equity, and that will not change. It's not only the right thing to do, it's good for business. It serves our diverse workforce and an increasingly diverse customer base.
Northstar: Women's sports is an area of huge growth but also one that has been underserved in terms of equity — often by the structure of sports organizations when it comes to prize money, exposure via television networks, etc. — so that really fits into that equity mission. Tell me more about that.
Tennant: We've had tremendous success with our women's sports teams. The Minnesota Lynx have won the Women's National Basketball Association championship four times. We got robbed one year, so it should have been five. But that's OK. I'm not bitter or anything [laughing]. Also, our women's hockey team, the Frost, won the two inaugural championships for that league. So we've got that foundation. We've got these athletes, these women who are leaders in the community who are here making their presence known.
In addition, we've hosted a number of high-profile women's sporting events. We've done the WNBA All-Star Game. We've done the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships and the NCAA Women's Final Four. Even beyond those big marquee events, we are just a mecca for women’s and girls' volleyball. We have so many pieces of that infrastructure already in place, and now the [effort] is to show that we've got the receipts to claim that piece of the market and present ourselves as a city that's welcoming to women's sports. We've had very, very strong results and we're excited … about being able to secure more events for our city.
Northstar: You brought up George Floyd's murder in 2020, which was clearly an inflection point for the city that required a recovery period and a need to lean into your customers' concerns. It seems that the media onslaught converging on this one slice of Minneapolis' current experience is very tough and will be something that Meet Minneapolis needs to overcome. How do you do that?
Tennant: We know there will have to be some messaging to share what the true story is. As an example, shortly after the George Floyd murder, we did a client event in Washington at the National Museum of African American History and Culture with 100 clients. We needed to remind them that the tragedy of George Floyd was not our whole story. That's part of it now, you know, but it doesn't end there. And we learned then that authenticity and transparency and telling customers what is really happening is the key. We used the event at the museum in a very effective way, in my view.
We are again, now, in the position of being in the evening news across the country in a highly politicized story, and that's difficult to overcome. We are having individual, one-on-one conversations with groups that legitimately have questions. We don't have the resources, nor is it the time right now to launch the right messaging. But when it is, we have to show people that what they see in the media is not all of what's happening on the ground in our city. We'll do much of that on the leisure side, but … for groups and conventions, we already have a number of familiarization trips scheduled around key events. We'll probably need to reshape those, but the opportunities are already in place to bring in key decision-makers with potential business for the city.
"We are again in the position of being in the evening news across the country in a highly politicized story, and that's difficult to overcome."
Northstar: I have anecdotal information from two sizable organizations that indicate their clients are avoiding Minneapolis for business travel. I also was told two entities have canceled their events at the convention center. What does that kind of attrition and avoidance mean for the Minneapolis economy?
Tennant: I'll talk about a few successes first. Right after the first of the year, the community in the metro area hosted the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. The events took place at a venue in Minneapolis, but the championship games were at a venue in St. Paul. It was very successful. For the first time we moved our Twin Cities Auto show to that early January time frame, and they're happy with those results. We had the boat show and the Totally Rad Vintage Fest just this past weekend. We also had the Minnesota School Board Association. And, sidebar, one of their big topics was how school districts [respond] when ICE shows up. That contributed to attendance.
Northstar: And the cancellations? The impact of those?
Tennant: Just to correct the information, we have had one event cancel and we are in talks with the other piece of business; they have not canceled. In normal years, we can host anywhere from 600 to 800 meetings, conferences and conventions. We haven't pulled together the number for 2025 yet, but in 2024 we had 760 total events, so that gives you a range. But January, as you can imagine for Minnesota, can be a challenging month. Lots of cities are scrambling for that business and it's very competitive out there. It's a time when our hospitality workers don't necessarily have as many hours to work to take care of their families as they typically would, so it's vitally important for us to get that January business.
The total impact from the one [canceled] event was, I believe, a little less than half a million [dollars]. So certainly nothing to sneeze at, and we are glad to have only one cancellation so far. To focus, though, the impact of half a million-dollar losses on workers is real, and there are people who didn't get work hours they were expecting. That's very, very regrettable, and Meet Minneapolis is responsible for keeping the promises we make.
"It's vitally important for us to get that January business."
Northstar: When I think about ICE activities and the cities where they are being deployed — Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Ore. — these are cities the current administration didn't win in the election. While I don't think anyone is targeting the meetings and events industry, specifically, the by-product of these government activities does impact local economies, the ability to serve tourists and groups, and how meeting planners may choose to source destinations for their events. So, in effect, deploying ICE may have the effect of steering meetings and event business away from cities like yours. You may or may not agree, but talk to me about the potential for that and what it could mean.
Tennant: Yeah. I'll just say that, like I mentioned earlier, the fact that we're in the crosshairs of this sociopolitical issue is certainly something we didn't ask for, but it's a reality. We talk amongst destination marketing executives a lot about "what ifs.” What if a certain occurrence happens in your city? We just don't know. We've seen travel politicized very, very heavily the last 10 to 15 years. We've seen how certain resort destinations might have been vilified or certain organizations calling for people not to go to certain cities or states because of a political stance on some issue. It's always out there.
Among destination executives, we know we could be next. We're all vulnerable because it's easy to politicize travel and travel is easily impacted by a situation like this and I don't wish it on anyone else. But I can't even tell you the number of notes of support I've gotten from my colleagues across the country. And I don't think anybody tries to profit from any issue that one particular city is having.
"We're all vulnerable because it's easy to politicize travel."
Northstar: How are you communicating more generally and providing extra information to planners and event organizers who are looking to bring business to Minneapolis right now?
Tennant: [Our communications team] updates our FAQs multiple times daily, and that's the best source of information. But we have a tremendous sales team that has great relationships with their clients, and there are individual conversations taking place. We have a very, very close working relationship with our city government, from communications to logistics for events. Even though we are not a city department, we are very plugged in and have dialogue all the time. Our convention center is a city department, and we speak to the director at least daily. They rely on us for a lot of information and market intelligence. As far as policy decisions made, we're not involved; but we are deeply involved in anything that supports those decisions, from communications to logistics.
A version of this article originally ran in Business Travel News.