Hey South Dakota we do tourism right! That's why visitors keep coming back or introducing themselves to the upper plains that offers so much. From outdoor recreations to conventions. Visiting family and friends or for vacation.

The South Dakota tourism industry has grown again for the ninth straight year reaching record levels of visitors, visitor spending and impact on the state’s economy.

According to a new study by Tourism Economics, visitor spending in South Dakota totaled $3.98 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent over the previous year. Visitation to the state grew to 14.1 million visitors, an increase of 1.4 percent over 2017. These dollars flowed through the economy and contributed $2.66 billion in GDP, an increase of 2.5 percent.

“Tourism is an incredibly important industry in our state, and we are excited to see yet another year of growth,” said James Hagen, Secretary of the Department of Tourism. “Our targeted marketing, extensive media coverage, public relations outreach and the hard work of our industry members contributed to this success.”

In 2018, tourism generated $298 million in state and local tax revenue. Without tourism in South Dakota, each household would pay an additional $865 more in taxes each year.

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