Leaders of South Dakota’s second largest Industry are reporting a banner year.
Visitors flocked to South Dakota during the normal tourism season, but the shoulder seasons in the spring and fall also saw strong numbers.
Visitor numbers and revenue were up for most businesses in the tourism economy. Large well publicized events and warm weather in the spring and fall helped boost numbers. Michelle Thompson is the President and CEO of Black Hills and Badlands Tourism Association.
“2015 was an absolutely fantastic tourism season for the Black Hills and Badlands region. We were really lucky early in the spring and we had some really great weather, so the visitors started rolling in, and national and state park visitors were up and then we just continued it thought the summer. We had the 50th anniversary of the Custer State Park Buffalo Round Up and the 75th anniversary of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and a lot of really great press around that. So we just continued all through the summer and by the end of the summer we were between 10 and 11 percent up by the indicators that we watch,” says Thompson.
Thompson says the final numbers including visitor revenue are set to be released at the Governor’s conference on tourism in January. She says some extra snow in the Northern Hills would help boost that area’s winter tourism numbers further.