Tourists flock to Duluth in the summer, with Lake Superior being one of the main attractions. Day Tripper of Duluth is a seasonal business that takes locals and tourists alike on various kayaking tours. Bookings spiked at the start of the pandemic and are now back to normal.

“Kayaking was one of the few things that you could do during COVID and enjoy. It was still just as enjoyable, and so we got absolutely slammed, just insane bookings. We did our best to offer tours for as many people as we could. We had to turn away a lot, which was really, really rough,” said Co-owner Abby Halom. “Last year, things started to come back to normal, and this year we’re back to normal numbers, which is a bit of a relief. It’s better quality that we’re able to offer for people and just a little more manageable numbers.”

Other businesses struggled at the start of the pandemic but are now seeing numbers increase. Duluth Chamber of Commerce Vice President Daniel Fanning says there is hope that this trend will continue.

“I think by and large, the consensus that we’ve heard from our chamber members is that it was a good summer and things trend in the right direction. But we also know there’s still room for improvement. There weren’t the record breaking numbers that some people were hoping for,” said Fanning. “Duluth is open for business. We have opportunities, and we just want to keep growing those numbers.”

According to Fanning, many Chamber members from restaurants and hotels downtown to tourist attractions have seen increases in tourism revenue. Fanning says this is good for everybody.

“As people come downtown, whether they’re staying in hotels or not, they’re spending money downtown,” said Fanning. “That has an economic impact that helps everybody. So we just want to keep encouraging people to support local businesses.”

While Duluth is known for being nice in the summer, there is plenty to offer as we head into fall.

“Split Rock’s really good for fall foliage. Also, the hawk migration is really cool on the water. You get up on the North Shore, out on the water, and you can often see a lot of the birds that are migrating through,” said Halom.

Exploring the area is not limited to tourists- locals can also support businesses in the region year-round.

“We want people coming up in fall, spring, winter and summer as well. That goes not only for tourism, but also for locals that come on out, support the zoos, support our downtown businesses because that matters. The economic impact affects us all in a positive way,” said Fanning. “I think to attract those folks, whether it be from the Twin Cities or from Wisconsin, you come up here, you see the leaves, you take advantage of, of course, the college sports, but also the local businesses that we have here, the music scene, the restaurants, the hotels, the train, all these amenities that you just can’t get most places throughout the country.”

Duluth Tourism Tax revenue, a good indication for tourist trends in the city, was $1,568.608 in June. This is up 1.8% compared to last year and 9.5% compared to 2022.

The Year-to-Date Tourism Tax Revenue as of June is $6,290,045. That is up 0.9% compared to last year and 10.4% compared to 2022. The numbers are not in yet for July or August.