Meet Minneapolis Coronavirus Update

Via a March 3 e-announcement from Melvin Tennant of Meet Minneapolis:

In mid-February, we shared initial information on COVID-19 (also commonly known as the Coronavirus). Today, I’d like to provide you with an update, as our Meet Minneapolis team continues to monitor, prepare and navigate new developments locally, nationally and internationally. Over the next 90 days, approximately 140 meetings and conventions booked Meet Minneapolis are scheduled to take place. Currently, there have been no cancellations at the Minneapolis Convention Center (MCC) due to COVID-19, and we have only learned of one reported meeting cancellation at a local hotel. What we have encountered, thus far, are more than a dozen inquiries from groups looking for on-the-ground information on what we are doing. How is Meet Minneapolis addressing COVID-19?

We have been proactively gathering information from multiple entities and providing details to meeting planners with groups scheduled to be Minneapolis. We are in regular communication with our main tourism assets and organizations to learn about the proactive and preventative measures they are taking. More details can be found below. We added information to the MCC website, which can be found here. We are responding to media requests with the facts and not speculation. (We have had two requests so far.) Internally, we are reviewing our business continuity plans and addressing the needs of our staff members, as it is essential for Meet Minneapolis to remain operational should circumstances deteriorate.

Organizationally, Meet Minneapolis is committed to providing accurate information to and about our tourism and hospitality community.

All of our health information and guidance that we share will come from official sources such as the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). We will collect and disseminate as much information as we are able regarding the state of the tourism and hospitality industry from partners and associations. We will continue to utilize national resources for information on a broad scale including U.S. Travel, Meeting Professionals International and others.

We are also making sure our customers know that, currently, no cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region or the state of Minnesota. We are emphasizing that there are no domestic travel advisories or restrictions. Plus, we are providing customers with information from the MDH, CDC and WHO. Our tourism and hospitality industry supports more than 37,000 workers in Minneapolis. We know COVID-19 has the potential to greatly impact the lives of our residents and the livelihoods of many others.