ND tourism officials unveil plans for 2018

The tourism division of the state Department of Commerce will spend $2.9 million advertising North Dakota this year, which is about the same as last year, its Director Sara Otte Coleman said. She previously said the division faced an 18 percent budget cut this two-year cycle compared with the original 2015-2017 biennial budget of $13.3 million.

"We work really hard to try and push dollars that direction because we know that's what improves awareness, and improves our image and drives dollars to the state," she said.

After signing a $365,000 contract that lasts through 2019, actor and North Dakota native Josh Duhamel will continue to be the state's public face.

"Leveraging Josh and his broad, broad audience really allows us to shed new light on the state and attract some attention in ways that we wouldn't be able to otherwise," Otte Coleman said.

She has talked to an agent for Carson Wentz, the former North Dakota State University quarterback who's now an professional star, but she's not sure "that he's necessarily looking for deals to endorse right now."

"We're always open to opportunities," she said.

Otte Coleman said they're putting more emphasis on the Chicago market after seeing some success there. The other primary markets are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

She acknowledged North Dakota isn't "well-known" and needs to continue to build its brand as a state with diverse offerings for visitors.

There were nearly 22 million visitors to North Dakota in 2015, according to the latest report provided by tourism officials. That was down 2.6 percent from the year prior but up from 2011, 2012 and 2013.