Memorial Day marks the start of the tourism season in South Dakota.
Visitor industry officials predict solid tourism numbers this summer. Mike Gussiaas is with the Black Hills Badlands and Lake Association, a visitor industry group. He says national media coverage, such as The New York Times story on a local dude ranch, will boost South Dakota tourism this year.
“When you have that kind of coverage and media outlets, be them nitch or wide-reaching talking about all of the the great things there are to see in the Black Hills. It can really help to open up the area to a lot of new potential visitors that may not have thought about here before.” Says Gussiaas.
Gussiaas says the number of off-season visitors to South Dakota during the first few months of this year are already higher than projected. He says a major boot is also slated for August. Gussiaas says the 75th Sturgis Rally should be the largest to date.