Each individual U.S. state that touches the Mississippi River has a story, and with endless ways to working experience history, lifestyle and dining together this legendary waterway, travellers have an invitation into the “coronary heart of The us.”

That is the assure (and tagline) of Mississippi River Country, a group that promotes the ten states together America’s most renowned river, including the areas, people and attractions that make it exclusive.

“Some of our places are perfectly known, like New Orleans,” claimed Lyn Pilch, taking care of director at Mississippi River State, talking to PAX at an data supper Monday night time (Feb. 27) at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum. “But then we have a state like Arkansas, which some people today don’t know, and it really is a delightful point out with tons of out of doors activities, like incredibly hot springs.”

The genesis of this particular north, central and southern strip in the U.S, as a tourism products, dates again to the mid-1980s when it was solely promoted to the Japanese sector.

Lyn Pilch, managing director at Mississippi River Country. (Pax Global Media)

In 2018, the team regrouped and determined to grow its internet marketing to Canada, an activation that introduced very last 12 months.

Why Canada? Pilch mentioned the team noticed “a void” in that numerous of its members states have been not represented north of the border (with exception to Louisiana) and that some locations “were slipping by way of the cracks.”

“It turned a collective hard work for us to introduce Mississippi River Place to Canada in a new way,” Pilch instructed PAX.

The end result of this technique was the start of a new English language web page, MississippiRiverCountry.com, which serves as a useful resource for itinerary ideas inside of the 10 states the team represents.

Mississippi River Country, outlined on a U.S. map. (MississippiRiverCountry.com)

Vacation thoughts are not restricted to geography. Fairly, they’re arranged by themes, and “Music,” Pilch stated, is the most well known.

“We are the birthplace of nearly each one music style established in the U.S.,” she said. “Jazz, blues, place music – it was all born in Mississippi River Country.”  

“Food and Agriculture,” she said, will come in next. Mississippi River Place produces all varieties of generate, from dairy to fishing to soybeans to rice.

“It’s incredibly a lot a farm-to-table area,” Pilch reported.

And guests to the web page can obtain factors they’re intrigued in, by topic, devoid of earlier understanding where by matters are located.

For case in point: the area is property to a lot more than 15 Frank Lloyd Wright attributes. Architecture fans (or vacation agents) can use the web site to match by themselves (or clientele) with U.S. destinations that are house to well-known structures.

Mississippi River Country hosted travel media Monday night (Feb. 27) at Toronto's Gardiner Museum. (Pax Global Media)

Mississippi River Region – in focus

Last night’s members incorporated Illinois (the Illinois Workplace of Tourism, Heritage Corridor Places, Go to Springfield and Great Rivers and Routes), Tennessee (Memphis Travel), Arkansas (the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism), Mississippi (Check out Ridgeland and Take a look at Vicksburg) and Louisiana (the Louisiana Business office of Tourism).

Illinois, positioned in the Midwestern U.S., is nicknamed “the Prairie State” for its abundance of farmland, forests and wetlands.

Its biggest cities include things like Chicago, St. Louis, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield (its funds) and the condition takes delight in endorsing regional firms.

“We’ve bought that everything from Michelin-starred eating places to hotdogs on a stick that you dip in corn batter,” mentioned Mary Twomey of the Illinois Place of work of Tourism. “I’d also argue that we’ve bought the finest pizza in the region.”

(The stuffed wide variety, in specific).

From left: Cory Jobe, Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau; Mary Twomey, Illinois Office of Tourism; Sarah Waggoner, Visit Springfield; Bob Navarro, Heritage Corridor Destinations. (Pax Global Media)

The Heritage Corridor Conference and Visitors Bureau, meanwhile, promotes ordeals inside of communities together the I&M Canal Nationwide Heritage Corridor, which begins a couple of miles southwest of Chicago and extends southwest via Starved Rock Country.

Sights contain the I&M canal (a mid-1800s, 96-mile landmark), the first hundred miles of Route 66 (celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026) and adventure/water parks, this sort of as Raging Waves Waterpark.

In Springfield, people can investigate the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, who lived there for 17 yrs before his election as the 16th president of the United States. Heritage buffs can tour Lincoln’s household and even visit his tomb.

Architecture enthusiasts may perhaps gravitate in the direction of Dana-Thomas Household, a lavish house intended by Frank Lloyd Wright throughout his early Prairie period of time, at first designed for socialite Susan Lawrence Dana.

And Route 66 runs appropriate by way of city, supplying up area dining establishments and activities.

In the Good Rivers & Routes region, there are additional than 320 kilometres of hiking and biking trails, from mother nature excursions (these types of as the Tumble Foliage and History Tour) to thrills (Aerie’s Resort provides zip-lining and its family-helpful “Alpine Coaster”) to culinary connections (Collinsville, IL, is mentioned to supply 80 per cent of the world’s horseradish).

Above to Memphis, in southwest Tennessee, there are roots in blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll.

This metropolis is a mecca for songs fans. It’s where by Elvis Presley, B.B. King and Johnny Cash recorded albums, and Presley’s Graceland mansion is a well-liked attraction (which is looking at even far more curiosity subsequent the launch of the 2022 biographical film, Elvis, by Baz Luhrmann).

Lauren Berry, Memphis Tourism. (Pax Global Media)

Memphis is also famous for its consolation meals – there are much more than 100 barbeque eating places, such as vegan and fantastic eating possibilities, and some 200 hen wing institutions.

In Arkansas, visitors have the great outdoors at the fingertips, from wilderness areas that encompass mountains, caves, rivers and incredibly hot springs to the Ozarks area in its northwest, which has mountaineering trails and caves, this kind of as Blanchard Springs Caverns.

The state is home to Johnny Cash’s Boyhood Dwelling, which provides tours, as properly as Crater of Diamonds Condition Park, in which the public can dig for serious diamonds in their first volcanic supply.

“Whatever you obtain, you keep,” famous Kim Williams of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.

Over to Mississippi, the Mississippi Delta location is widely deemed the birthplace of blues audio. And Ridgeland, found on the Natchez Trace Parkway, with ample bicycle trails, is a cycler’s paradise.

Right here, one one of a kind attract is the “Snappy Sync” fireflies practical experience at the Monthly bill Waller Craft Centre.

In close proximity to the close of May well, website visitors can witness the magic of countless numbers of twinkling Snappy Sync fireflies flashing alongside one another for the duration of a special, 20-moment guided tour in close proximity to the historic Previous Trace.

It is a huge deal, given that these exceptional fireflies do this dance for a quick time period of time. And each and every tour is led by a Mississippi Learn Naturalist.

From left: Katie Coats, Visit Ridgeland; Kim Williams, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. (Pax Global Media)

Go to Vicksburg is also all about endorsing the fantastic outside. Visitors can discover museums, general public artwork and partake in intriguing excursions, these kinds of as the African American Heritage Tour.

And final (but not least), there is Louisiana, on the Gulf of Mexico – a melting pot of French, African, American and French-Canadian cultures.

From New Orleans (well-known for its colonial-period French Quarter, Mardi Gras pageant, jazz songs, Renaissance-design and style St. Louis Cathedral and wartime reveals) to the money of Baton Rouge (residence to the castle-like Outdated Louisiana Point out Capitol, now a museum) to Lafayette (the heart of Cajun and Creole state), Louisiana delivers vacation that can “feed your soul,” as the tagline for the state’s tourism board reads.

Marie Stagg, Louisiana Tourism. (Pax Global Media)

New in New Orleans, for a person, is “Vue Orleans,” an indoor/out of doors observation deck and cultural exhibit that includes the only 360-degree panoramic sights of the town. 

And the energetic point out, with its coastal marshes, swamps and savannahs, is set up for a person wonderful road journey as several locations in Louisiana are inside of driving length of every single other.

Helpful for vacation advisors

How can Canadian vacation advisors gain from Mississippi River Country?

“We have terrific relationships with the communities in these ten states,” Pilch explained. “We’re in a position to locate exclusive opportunities for deals that it’s possible other folks don’t have.”

For instance: if you have been scheduling a new music-themed itinerary, and you’ve scheduled lunch in Clarksdale [Mississippi] – “we can not only give you lunch, but we can also have a blues musician perform for you,” Pilch explained.

“We approach Chef’s tables, cooking classes…we can supply all those exclusive activities that persons just cannot get while travelling on their personal. Which delivers additional benefit.”


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