Five cities in southeastern Minnesota are hoping some old fashioned teamwork will help draw more tourists to the area.

For the past three years Winona, Wabasha, Red Wing, Lake City and Lanesboro have been working together to boost tourism in southeastern Minnesota.

"We have so many assets in common,” says Pat Mutter, executive director of Visit Winona. “We thought it really would behoove us to work together."

She says all five cities decided to start advertising as a regional destination rather than a single vacation location.

She cites "our proximity to the river and the lakes and bluffs and great outdoor recreational facilities opportunities, and also great art and culture" as reasons people should come to the area.

The fab five of southeastern Minnesota even launched a website to help draw even more people to the area. Mutter says the tourists aren't the only ones using the group’s resources.

"If we have the information, and we have itineraries planned, and we have ten group tour destinations and facilities that they can already have access to and not have to do a lot of research to find out about us."

Carolynn Klees is a member of the Wabasha Chamber of Commerce and she says thanks to teamwork more people have made her childhood city a must see.

"Wabasha is a small town and when we work alone, we have a small budget,” explains Klees. “If we can work together, we'll have a bigger financial impact and we get to be a bigger blip on the Richter scale."

All five cities received grant money from the state and Klees says it helped Wabasha make its historic downtown area more interesting.

"We have the brand new national Eagle center which has been really busy this summer, a lot of fine unique restaurants, the Anderson House..."

Mutter says the group is now working on a series of TV commercials to try and turn southeastern Minnesota into a tourist trap.

"Just trying to get the word out and probably looking at extending it to even more towns in the future."

Mutter says the group has been talking to Onalaska and La Crosse about joining the tourism campaign.

Here’s a link to the group’s website: http://www.exploremississippibluffs.com