SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) – South Dakota is a leader in coronavirus economic recovery for tourism and visitors. The rank is based on a report by the US Travel Association.

Florida is the other leader, said Kirk Hulstein, industry director for the South Dakota Department of Tourism.

Tourism is the second largest industry in South Dakota after agriculture, so it needs these tourism dollars to fund the state budget. Tourism funds accounted for 5.2% of the state’s economy in 2019 and 4.7% of the state’s economy in the 2020 pandemic year, according to the country’s tourism department.

Although the state has recovered in the 2020 pandemic year, the tourism and visitor numbers from January 1 to May 31 of this year seem like the state is well on its way to breaking the records set in 2019.

“It’s fair to say that we will break the 2019 records,” said Hulstein.

They welcome you to South Dakota

The US Travel Association reviews visitor spending to see how well a state’s tourism economy has recovered, Hulstein said.

That year, visitors spent $ 1.3 billion in the state from January 1 through May 31, Hulstein said. That’s about 15% more than the $ 1.2 billion spent in the same period of 2019, he said.

Around $ 1 billion was spent in the same period in 2020, Hulstein said.

The spending generated roughly $ 4.5 million in tax revenue, according to the Department of Tourism’s website.

In the same period of 2019, around $ 4 million in tax revenue was generated.

Hulstein said tourism started slowly in 2019 due to snow storms and other weather issues.

The tourism year ended strongly in 2019, he said. And even with higher gas prices, there are no signs that things will slow down in 2021, Hulstein said.

A preview of the 2021 travel season in South Dakota

Although the entire tourism industry is booming in the state, there are still some slowdowns.

Hulstein said international travel is still slow, as is bus travel.

Rapid City’s Journey Museum and Learning Center had an average of 300 bus tours in 2019 and 2018, said managing director Troy Kilpatrick.

“… in the old days,” he said with a laugh.

The Journey had three bus tours in 2020. “We were very grateful to have these three,” said Kilpatrick.

Several bus tours have stopped so far this year. “In May and June, groups came who had been delayed compared to 2020. They really wanted to go to the Black Hills so they stayed with the tour company, ”Kilpatrick said.

The pandemic had a negative impact on bus tour planning, he said.

Bus tours are usually scheduled from November through January, Kilpatrick said. Vaccines were still not readily available during those months, leading some people not to book a bus tour for the spring and summer, he said.

“Now we see more intentions for August and September,” said Kilpatrick.

Visitors through the door and off the highway

Kilpatrick said that the gate tickets on the journey are about 60% of the 2019 level. While buses with an average of 45 people are not yet frequent visitors, he sees families stopping.

The museum and learning center are now open five days a week instead of seven to accommodate the changes caused by the pandemic, he said.

In the years leading up to the pandemic, the museum and learning center had less traffic on Mondays and Tuesdays, so it was closed on those days.

The recovery in tourism has spread across the country, said Hulstein. Tourism staff learn from tourism sites in smaller towns that visitors stop.

“For the most part, we are seeing an influx of visitors,” said Hulstein. “Small town museums see visitors who normally don’t see them.”

Florida, South Dakota in numbers

Tourism has a huge impact on Florida, the other state considered a leader in tourism recovery.

According to a January 21 report by the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research, $ 3.8 billion of the $ 24.5 billion in sales tax revenue for 2018-2019 came from tourist purchases.

Florida tourism activity in 2017 generated $ 13. $ 3 billion in federal tax revenue and $ 11.4 billion in state and local tax revenue, according to a Rockport Analytics study cited by the University of Central Florida.

Tourism generated tax revenue of $ 276 million in 2020, according to the South Dakota Department of Tourism. In 2019 it was $ 308 million.

Tourism supports 49,500 jobs in South Dakota.

Foreign labor is required to visit South Dakota

Tourism supports 1.5 million jobs in Florida, according to Visit Florida Research. The state had 79.8 million visitors in 2020.

Like South Dakota, the majority traveled to Florida by vehicle in 2020.

Dealing with all of these visitors is a challenge

Hulstein said he was recently in the Black Hills area, where the tourist attractions were “pushed to the max”.

South Dakota has a low unemployment rate and it is difficult to find all the tourism workers it needs, state officials have said for several months. COVID-19 has also slowed the number of foreign workers who can come into the state to work during the tourist season.

Black Hills State University has launched a new program to address the labor shortage in tourism. It will set up a 16 to 18 month program that includes an internship in industry. The program is conducted in the Rapid City office and upon completion leads to an associate degree. said a story dated April 8th by Bob Mercer of KELOLAND.

Lead sees an increase in business but a shortage of manpower

In a July 8 state press release, Jim Hagen, secretary of the Department of Tourism, commended the tourism industry for excellence during the challenges of the pandemic that continued that year.