The Minnesota Tourism Department says those designations turbo-charged an already growing interest in astrotourism.

Cook County now hosts a "Dark Sky Festival" in Grand Marais every December with night sky photography workshops and guided stargazing walks. This year, they'll screen a new PBS North documentary filmed in Minnesota called, "Northern Nights, Starry Skies."

Resorts are taking note as well, with Lutsen Mountain's Eagle Ridge Lodge, for example, now offering a "dark sky" discount in December.

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