South Dakota tourism officials say the industry continues to rebound after the pandemic.
That's according to an economic impact report from the 2023 travel season.
Christopher Pike is the Tourism Economics’ Director of Impact Studies. He said the report proves the resiliency of the state’ tourism industry.
“People want to travel. Even after the pandemic, we’ve been saying even with the pandemic, people were saying it's going to change travel, no. People want to travel, they want to go out and experience the world. They want to go see events, they want to travel with their kids and do the sporting events and things like that," said Pike. "So people still want to travel, that is, frankly, a fact.”
Data for the study is collected based on sales tax revenue, employment and wage levels, state park data, and physical location of visitors.
Pike said the state shows sustainable economic growth.
“Now we are at a point, in 2023, we’re now back to a little bit more normal, and organic, and frankly, supportable growth rates. Of that three, five, seven percent," said Pike.
A list of economic tourism growth by county is available here.
