After Powerful 2020, SD Tourism Trade Hopes For Huge Bounce Again In 2021 | Group

Tourism representatives and operators in South Dakota are looking forward to a tough 2020 in the rearview mirror and even more looking forward to a banner year for visitors and spending in 2021.

Aside from a few pockets of unexpected prosperity in 2020 – in outdoor tourism and in lodging in sprawling settings or in the wilderness – the South Dakota tourism industry suffered significant losses in visitor numbers and revenue over the past year.

The state recorded around 12.6 million visitors in 2020, down 13% from 2019, and tourist spending is estimated at $ 3.4 billion in 2020, down 18% or around 700 million US dollars compared to the previous year.

At the start of the pandemic, the tourism industry cut about 15,000 jobs due to the decline in tourist visits, South Dakota Minister of Tourism James Hagen said. Arrivals at Sioux Falls and Rapid City airports fell 48% to just 408,000 in 2020.

However, tourism officials and operators in South Dakota and elsewhere are almost certain that the worst is behind this.

An increase in vaccinations for coronavirus, a decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases and a simmering desire from tourists to travel after a year in which many stayed home should result in a potentially record-breaking year for tourism in South Dakota .

“Of every indicator we look at, every survey that has been conducted, 2021 will be a strong year when it comes to travel and tourism,” said Hagen.

South Dakota ranked third in domestic bookings in 2020, outperforming most of the country, where tourism spending fell 45% over the year.

Recent national surveys found that 84% of Americans say they want to travel within the next six months, that 39% are planning a vacation of a week or more, and that the top six destinations will be large metropolitan areas, small towns, or rural areas Areas, beaches, state or regional parks, national parks, and mountain areas.

“Out of the top six, South Dakota checks four of those boxes, which is great for us,” said Hagen.

According to Hagen, the state tourism industry cut more than 15,000 jobs, or about 35% of its workforce, in the early stages of the pandemic in spring 2020, although many of those jobs have returned.

“There is no question that some companies have been lost for good,” he said.

According to Hagen, the pandemic has shown how important it is for companies and employees to focus on maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene so that guests feel comfortable and safe.

“Visitors will expect some level of security from now on, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” he said.

Hagen and others owe the strong performance in part to Governor Kristi Noem’s decision not to issue a nationwide mask mandate or require business closings during the pandemic, and advertisements to attract visitors from other states.

Hagen said he doesn’t think efforts to encourage tourists to visit South Dakota during the pandemic peaked or exacerbated COVID-19 cases in the state, causing the nation to experience per capita infections and deaths at times led in 2020.

The shift to outdoor activities amid the pandemic resulted in 2 million people visiting Custer State Park in 2020, setting a new visitor record. Overall, visits to state parks increased by 31% compared to 2019 to around 8 million visitors in 2020.

With a tourism economy based more on convention, hotel stays, and large music and entertainment events that did not allow for social distancing, the Sioux Falls tourism industry saw a 40% decrease in local market spending in 2020 from 2019.

Teri Schmidt, executive director of Experience Sioux Falls, the city’s tourism promotion agency, said the city’s tourism revenue was down 46% year over year.

“There have been millions and millions of dollars in economic losses, we know that,” she said.

Schmidt said her group, funded by a nightly hotel tax, had to cut $ 900,000 from its budget in 2020, resulting in a job cut, the elimination of some marketing programs, and other spending cuts, including the hiring of janitorial services.

Sioux Falls businesses saw an unexpected spike in tourism spending in 2020 after families and groups of friends came to town to evade strict masking mandates in neighboring Minnesota, Schmidt said.

Michelle Thomson, President and CEO of the Black Hills & Badlands Tourism Association, is also very optimistic that 2021 will be a relaxing year.

Estimated visitor spending for the group, which spans much of the West River and part of eastern Wyoming, declined about 10% in 2020, from $ 1.48 billion in 2019 to $ 1.33 billion last Year.

Thomson attributed to national media coverage that South Dakota was open to business and had no mask mandate to attract interest and visits from tourists from other states, including atypical sources such as New York, New Jersey and California. She hopes that the dynamic that is emerging among these new visitors will carry over to the coming season.

“We had people who looked to South Dakota and maybe never would have seen us before,” she said.

Many hotels and restaurants across South Dakota suffered huge losses in 2020 as tourists avoid indoor spaces where COVID-19 can spread.

In total, around 725 companies that identify themselves as lodging or food services applied for federal COVID-19 aid grants, which together received $ 45.6 million, according to the South Dakota Bureau of Finance and Management.

However, the accommodations offered in stand-alone cabins or rental apartments showed strong results nationwide in 2020 with more than 880,000 bookings for Airbnb or home-away properties, up 22% year over year.

According to Heidi Perdue, co-owner of the booking firm Black Hills Cabin Rentals, the strong sense of wanderlust among some tourists has led to earlier bookings for cabins in the northern Black Hills in 2021.

This year the company is booking many smaller cabins much earlier than usual, she said.

“People are excited about the idea of ​​future trips when they didn’t arrive last year or they are planning to get vaccinated so just make sure they stand in line.”

After many cancellations in March and April 2020, the company recovered in the summer and experienced a particularly strong autumn 2020.

Outdoor recreation became a popular activity for many South Dakotans and visitors to the state, said Les Wulf, owner of Outpost Lodge, a fishing village with a hotel and restaurant on the shores of Lake Oahe, about 17 miles north of Pierre.

“We just had a lot of people who wanted to fish,” said Wulf. “What better way to distance yourself than in your own boat on 240 miles of open water?”

At the beginning of the pandemic, numerous reservations were canceled in Wulf, including annual excursions for large groups representing law enforcement officers, rural electricity and water utilities, and highway inspectors. Wulf said early signs suggest these groups are returning for the summer of 2021.

Wulf also noted that the spring 2020 cancellations were offset by American anglers who normally travel to Canada to fish but were blocked by closed border crossings between the two countries.

“We have and still see many reservations from people who would have gone to Canada,” he said.