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From Visit Cook County - October 11, 2022


Visit Cook County Executive Director Linda Jurek was awarded the Roger Touissant Award Oct. 4 at the annual meeting of the Minnesota Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (MACVB).

The award recognizes individuals who have been actively engaged and participatory in MACVB

membership and its ongoing efforts to increase tourism throughout the state, as well as those

who have willingly mentored others to share their knowledge and expertise with the MACVB

membership. Jurek has served on the MACVB board of directors since 2019 and joins a list of 14

other Minnesota tourism professionals to win the award, representing the “best of the best” of

the state’s $16 billion a year travel and tourism industry.

“It’s a true honor to receive the Roger Toussaint Award and to be recognized by my peers,”

Jurek said.

The award is named after Roger Toussaint, former Executive Director of the Saint Paul

Convention and Visitors Bureau, Executive Secretary of the Midwest Society of Association

Executives and Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Greater Minneapolis

Convention and Visitors Association, now known as Meet Minneapolis.

Jurek has served as Visit Cook County’s Executive Director since 2013, leading a young

destination management and marketing organization that has won multiple awards from

Explore Minnesota for its work promoting and growing Cook County’s tourism industry. Jurek

also serves as the Executive Director of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce.

Visit Cook County encompasses the northeastern Minnesota communities of Lutsen, Tofte,

Schroeder, Grand Marais, the Gunflint Trail and Grand Portage, commonly referred to as “the

Arrowhead” and the “North Shore of Lake Superior”. Grand Marais, Minn., has earned several

national accolades -- most recently it was named USA Today’s Best Midwestern Small Town,

Outside Magazine’s The 16 Best Places to Live in the U.S. 2016, and Budget Travel’s 2015

Coolest Small Town in America. Rekindle your sense of adventure by exploring the Superior

National Forest or paddling through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Discover

what makes the communities of Cook County, Minn. “Naturally Unforgettable.” Connect on

social media using #donorthmn, Twitter @CookCoVisitors, Facebook, or Instagram

@donorthmn. Learn more at www.visitcookcounty.com.