Simple methods to help space sights and tourism | Columnists

Like so many other terms I’ve heard over the past 12 months, “herd immunity” wouldn’t cross my mind without a global pandemic. Now I can’t wait to be a population of people with herd immunity.

As a movie buff, I’ve seen a number of movies that deal with global extinction, radical strains of viruses, people turning to zombies … you know, everyday things. Of course, they seemed pretty far fetched by 2020. Now I wonder if I should have paid more attention to some of these films.

As we near herd immunity and vaccines are rampant, I breathe a sigh of relief as the warm weather approaches and I think about going back to normal. With that in mind, the summer tourist season is almost here in Wahpeton. The Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Chahinkapa Zoo are considering various promotional tools to bring people to our exhibition city for at least a day and hopefully a weekend.

If you’re looking forward to those warm, sunny days, there are a few ways you can support our tourism attractions and businesses:

Talk about them positively.

When you talk to family and friends, especially those on Facebook (where thousands of people can see), you are talking about the good things in the community. Attractions, restaurants, shopping, events – for Wahpeton, they are all important to tourism. And it’s up to us to get the word out.

Be kind to visitors.

When you meet people from out of town, show them the spirit we have for our community. Provide information on where to eat, where to stay or where to visit us. Give them a reason to come back. For those of you who are here for sports tournaments, one negative experience could well mean the city won’t get that particular tournament back next year.

Help companies plan ahead.

It leaves a bad impression when you are visiting another city for a tournament, reunion, or other large gathering and the places you go seem to have no idea that you are about to come. If you are part of a group planning a tournament or other event, any communication you can make is extremely helpful. I’m happy to spread the word when and where I can.

Speaking of summer, spring training for the major league baseball teams has started in the south. Just the sight of the fields and the sounds of the bats connecting to fastballs make me smile. It won’t be long before our local teams can get out and enjoy the baseball game. And won’t that be great?

Chris DeVries is Wahpeton’s Community Development Director