Sara Otte Coleman

Sara Otte Coleman joined the North Dakota Department of Commerce as Director of the Tourism Division in 2003 and has over 35 years of destination management, marketing, and leadership experience. Her tourism career also includes 15 years at the Bismarck-Mandan CVB. She proudly serves the state as Tourism-Marketing Director and focuses on growing awareness of North Dakota through industry development, strategic planning, statewide branding, consumer marketing and media relations. She attributes the growth of tourism to strong partnerships with tourism providers, a smart marketing team and great visitor services. She has a bottom-line focus and has worked to use research and data to improve the state’s marketing and its ability to motivate visitors to choose North Dakota. Sara also works to develop strategies to support workforce and business recruitment, leveraging the Be Legendary brand and marketing campaigns created for tourism to drive workforce development and strengthen North Dakota’s economy.

Sara sits on several boards and commissions and is the current chair of the Western States Tourism Policy Council and incoming chair of the National Council of State Tourism Directors. She is past president of the Destination Marketing Association of North Dakota and received the Tourism Leadership award presented by the North Dakota tourism industry and the Governor’s award for Excellence in Public Service for administration and was awarded the 2018 State Tourism Director of the Year, by the National Council of State Tourism Directors.