South Dakota’s tourism industry grew over 2.64 percent last year. Tourism Secretary, Jim Hagen, says the 2014 tourism season started off slow due to bad weather but overall South Dakota had a strong year.
The South Dakota tourism industry produced $300 million dollars in state and local tax revenue in 2014. Secretary Jim Hagen says the direct impact on the state’s economy totaled just under 2 billion dollars. However, Hagen says state tourism is becoming more competitive across the country, especially as the economy gets better and tourists look to spend their money at more expensive destinations.
"It really causes us to become very focused on our marketing and really be very careful about our planning, our media schedules. Really taking a deep, deep look at our markets to make sure we’re in the right markets," says Hagen, "I feel extremely confident about our 2015 media schedule and the markets that we’re in."
Hagen says the South Dakota Department of Tourism will expand advertising efforts and enter into new markets. He says the department is also entering foreign markets and for the first time directly promoting to international consumers.
"We have just finished a campaign with Brand USA in the German market, a multi-channel campaign that included digital marketing, traditional marketing that reached millions of potential Germans. We’re actually currently in another campaign, currently with Brand USA in Germany through multi-channel marketing. We have been in the United Kingdom, just finishing a campaign to consumers and in about a month and half or two months we’ll start a campaign in Australia," says Hagen.
This year is the 50th annual buffalo roundup. It is also the 75th anniversary of the Sturgis Bike Rally which may have an estimated 1 million visitors this summer. Hagan says because of these events and recent international media coverage he is expecting a banner year for the South Dakota tourism industry.