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Northern Resorts Suffer Through Cold Spell

DULUTH, MN-Northern Minnesota accounts for about one-third of Minnesota's tourism business, one of its largest industries comparable to farming. Lodging was down 15% in Grand Marais on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

By Jim McCartney | Updated on August 26, 2004

DULUTH, MN-An extended cold snap has brought November temperatures to summer months in Minnesota, and that has put a damper on the typically brisk summer trade in resort destinations in northern Minnesota from Grand Marais to Bay Lake. Lodging was down 15% in May and June among the 35 hotels and resorts in the Grand Marais area on the North Shore of Lake Superior, says Greg Spanton, director of the Grand Marais Area Tourism Association.

“I think it has slowed things up,” says Chris Ruttger, manager of Ruttger’s Bay Lodge, a 167-unit resort in Deerwood. Despite an improved economy, his resort is having a “below average” summer, he says.

Terry Mattson, head of the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau, says cool weather has hurt “everything but sweatshirt sales.” Some resort owners worry that this year’s cold, rainy, windy conditions may keep people from reserving lodging next year.

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