2024 Minneapolis Tourism Highlights: A Year-in-Review from Meet Minneapolis

Via a December 26 e-announcement from Meet Minneapolis:

As 2024 draws to a close, Minneapolis celebrates a tourism year marked by exciting events, significant milestones, record-breaking numbers and an ever-growing reputation as a premier travel destination. Meet Minneapolis shared 10 highlights to recap a memorable year for the city’s tourism and hospitality industry: 

1.  Increase in Hotel Room Demand Continues

With strong convention activity, several marquee events and increased business and leisure travel in 2024, Minneapolis hotels recorded their strongest year since 2019, setting several records along the way:

• 2 million+ total hotel rooms sold – most since 2019
• All-time monthly hotel room revenue record: $43.7 million (October)
• All-time weekly hotel room revenue record: $12.5 million (July 14-20)
• 223,430 hotel rooms sold in August – most since August 2019 (240,980)
• 59,590 hotel rooms sold on March 3-9 – most ever in a week
• 70.2% hotel occupancy in August – highest monthly rate since October 2019 (75.4%)
• 82.9% hotel occupancy on March 3-9 – highest weekly rate since Oct. 6-12, 2019 (83.1%)
• 97.7% hotel occupancy on May 7 – highest daily rate since Oct. 12, 2019 (98.0%) 

2.  Physicists & Hoops Fans Drive Mpls Hotels to New Heights

With the American Physical Society March Meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) and the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament at Target Center, Minneapolis hotels recorded their strongest week ever in terms of hotel rooms sold (59,590, March 3-9). Also worthy of mentions:

• Minneapolis became the first city to host both the Big Ten Women’s and Men’s Basketball Tournaments in the same year.
• Combined attendance for the two tournaments was more than 220,000, highlighted by the first sellout of the women’s tournament in the 31-year history of the event.    

3.  Minneapolis Becomes Gymnastics City USA

From June 21-30, downtown Minneapolis was transformed into Gymnastics City USA as it hosted four of the sport’s most prestigious events, highlighted by the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. From the several events held at the Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) and fan interaction areas like Flip Zone and Promenade du Nord to Target Center, where fans watched the country’s best artistic gymnasts vie for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, more than 200,000 visitors came to downtown Minneapolis for one or more Gymnastics City USA events. 

4.  “Bring Ya Ass” – Timberwolves Playoff Run and More

Three words became a viral sensation when Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards told NBA analyst Charles Barkley to "bring ya ass" to Minnesota during the team's electrifying run to the NBA Western Conference Finals. But it wasn’t just sellout crowds at Target Center that made sports headlines in 2024:

• In February, the Stifel Loppet Cup brought the World Cup to Theodore Wirth Park. The event drew 40,000 fans to watch elite cross-country ski athletes, including Minnesota's own Olympic medalist Jessie Diggins.
• The MCC welcomed nearly 87,000 players, coaches and fans for multi-day youth volleyball tournaments hosted by Northern Lights Volleyball and North Country Region Volleyball, further cementing Minneapolis as a volleyball hub.

5.  Major Conventions & Large Public Events

The MCC, U.S. Bank Stadium and other downtown venues hosted hundreds of major conventions and large public events, resulting in significant economic impact for the city, thanks to the local tourism and hospitality industry. For examples include:

• Groups holding large-scale conventions in Minneapolis included Herbalife International of America (attendance: 18,000), American Physical Society (12,785), Minnesota Music Educators Association (12,600), American Public Health Association (10,450), American Cleanpower Association (7,440), and GALA Choruses (7,000).
• The public events with the highest attendance at the MCC included the Twin Cities Auto Show (attendance: 49,500), Minneapolis Home & Garden Show (36,415), Twin Cities Con (35,110), Minneapolis Boat Show (26,130), and The Ultimate RV Show (21,840). 

6.  Rock & Roll (and Country, too)

Minneapolis hosted an electrifying lineup of concerts in 2024 at a wide variety of venues. In addition to live-music stalwarts like First Avenue, the Armory and the Dakota Jazz Club, several mega concert tours took over the city.

• U.S. Bank Stadium was filled with country music fans singing along to Chris Stapleton (April), Kenny Chesney (May), Morgan Wallen (June) and Zach Bryan (August).    
• One long weekend in particular – August 16-19 – saw 12 bands play at four concerts for a major rock n’ roll weekend in Minneapolis:  Metallica/Pantera/Mammoth WVH/Five Finger Death Punch/Ice Nine Kills, Aug. 16/18, U.S. Bank Stadium; Green Day/Smashing Pumpkins/Rancid/Linda Lindas, Aug. 17, Target Field; Def Leppard/Journey/Steve Miller Band, Aug. 19, Target Field.

7.  Arts, Theater and even more Music

Minneapolis boasts countless museums, galleries, theaters and music venues, offering visitors a world of choice to experience the city’s thriving arts, culture and music scene. Following are some of the highlights from a year full of events and exhibitions:

• The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) presented a new exhibition of more than 50 documentary photographs by renowned photographer Gordon Parks and debuted a new permanent Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room with than 200 gilt-bronze sculptures, paintings, silk hangings and carpets.
• The Great Northern festival returned with 50+ events celebrating arts, food, culture and climate along with a 100-foot ice bar.
• Hennepin Arts welcomed a wide range of performances, highlighted by 2024’s slate of Broadway productions: Funny Girl, Mamma Mia!, Clue, The Lion King, MJ the Musical, Back to the Future, Some Like It Hot, Les Misérables, and The Book of Mormon.
• The Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater presented an epic three-part theatrical event, “A Brittle Glory, William Shakespeare’s History Cycle,” a rare undertaking produced at this scale.   
• In May, the Walker Art Center presented “Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody,” an exhibition of more than 100 works and rarely seen archival materials from the 1980s art star.
• Minneapolis marked the 40th anniversary of Prince’s “Purple Rain” with concerts, exhibits, panel discussions, and a high-definition screening at Paisley Park. 

8.  Showcasing the Minneapolis Cultural Districts

To highlight the city’s designated Cultural Districts, Meet Minneapolis partnered with designer Jesús Li in 2024 to create a map and a series of illustrated icons. These visuals showcase each district’s proximity to landmarks and distinct identity, blending cultural symbols, local narratives, and notable sites. The map encourages exploration and fosters a deeper appreciation for Minneapolis’ culturally rich and diverse communities.

9.  Getting Here Gets Easier

Getting to Minneapolis has never been easier for travelers with the addition of new routes at the award-winning Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and a popular new railway service:

• In April, Aer Lingus resumed nonstop service between MSP and Dublin (DUB).
• In May, Delta Air Lines added seasonal service between MSP and DUB.  And in October, Delta announced that it would launch its first-ever nonstop route between MSP and Copenhagen (CPH) starting in May 2025
• In June, Lufthansa became MSP’s 18th airline when it launched year-round service between MSP and Frankfurt (FRA). In May 2025, Discover Airlines – Lufthansa’s leisure subsidiary – will take over the route with Lufthansa planning to resume operation of the route in 2026.
• Finally, a new passenger train began in 2024 as Amtrak’s Borealis began twice-daily service in May between Chicago and the Twin Cities. 

10. Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame Experience

Since Black Friday, more than 9,300 visitors (through Dec. 24) have enjoyed the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame Experience – a free pop-up exhibit at The Dayton’s Project celebrating the many individuals, teams and key moments in our state’s sports legacy. Featuring a pictorial history of Minnesota’s history on the field, diamond, court, ice and beyond, the exhibit has received outstanding reviews with more than 94% of attendees reporting a positive experience. The temporary attraction is open through December 28.