While tariffs, inflation and other economic impacts have caused some growing pains for the national tourism industry, South Dakota tourism is holding strong.
Jim Hagen is the Secretary of Tourism, and at last week’s Buffalo Roundup he said everyone at the event asked him a lingering question, “How’s the tourism season been?”
He said that’s largely because economic impacts have affected consumers and the industry.
“Nationwide tourism has been struggling a little bit,” Hagen said.
He said some numbers “hot off the press” should ease some anxieties here at home: “We’re bucking that trend in South Dakota.”
Hagen said the numbers are promising as the department is seeing improvements from this time last year.
“State Park visits for the month of August are up 2% year-to-date. We’re basically flat for all of the state parks compared to last year. That’s good; we had a great year last year. Custer State Park is up 2% year-over-year, so that’s a great number. In terms of National Parks, our National Parks in South Dakota, visitation is up 5.8%," Hagen said. "We are bucking the national trend. So, the national trend is seeing National Park visits down 4.1%. So, we are really doing well when it comes to National Park visits.”
In 2024 South Dakota welcomed a record number of visitors, and Hagen said that trend is likely to continue.
“I would say overall visitation looks like we’re up 2.3% year-to-date," Hagen said. "And the tourism promotion tax is up almost 4%, so it’s been a very steady summer for us. And we’ve got a lot of the year to go.”
He added the months ahead include big tourism boons like the South Dakota Arts Festival and pheasant hunting season.
However, just because people are showing up doesn’t mean people are spending as much money. South Dakota News Watch reports with tariffs, inflation and other economic impacts, visitors spent less in tax revenue through Labor Day weekend.
So, while people are coming to see the view, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re opening their wallets to spend at local businesses. SD Tourism typically announces the industry’s yearly sales tax revenue impacts in January.
