May 15, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by Experience Sioux Falls.

Watch as butterflies and marine life float across your screen from the Butterfly House & Aquarium.

Have a virtual animal encounter at the Great Plains Zoo.

Browse historical artifacts at the Old Courthouse Museum, or learn about agriculture interactively through the Stockyards Ag Experience.

And top it off with some mixology at JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars.

It’s the next best thing to being in Sioux Falls: a virtual vacation to the city, coordinated by Experience Sioux Falls, that was shared recently by four neighboring cities thanks to a new regional partnership.

Kicking off with National Tourism Week, the entities came together to show solidarity in the tourism industry and help highlight one another’s unique destinations.

Catch Des Moines, Visit KC, Meet Minneapolis, Visit Omaha and Experience Sioux Falls have joined forces to promote each others’ cities, sharing inspirational photography, colorful videos and digital offerings from the other communities.

For Deborah Ward, vice president of marketing and communications at Visit Omaha, the Sioux Falls virtual vacation was eye-opening. She and her family visited the city several years ago and were “blown away by Falls Park,” she said.

“We did not want to leave. I go on and on about Sioux Falls with my friends and family, and I am always trying to get them to drive up there for the weekend.”

The virtual vacation partnership showed her it would be easy to make a full weekend out of a trip here, she said.

“The Butterfly House & Aquarium really got my attention. We watched the video of turtle feedings and what they do like to eat — crickets, worms and romaine lettuce – and what they don’t like to eat – carrots. The Sioux Falls Instagram photos also inspired me, especially the Arc of Dreams in the downtown – beautiful!”

For her part, Ward helped showcase Omaha as a destination by featuring a behind-the-scenes experience at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, where visitors could watch zookeepers train lions in the African Grasslands exhibit, go deep sea diving with sharks and learn how the zoo keeps the penguins and fish healthy in the Scott Aquarium.

A unique art gallery, KANEKO, allowed visitors to contribute virtually to a massive mosaic installation that will be publicly displayed in Omaha. The city’s Joslyn Art Museum offered free virtual art classes for kids, while parents could grab a glass of wine and take a virtual tour of the Fact and Fiction in Contemporary Photography exhibition at the museum.

“We were happy to highlight all there is to do in our neighboring cities,” said Teri Schmidt, executive director of Experience Sioux Falls. “It was inspiring for us, for members of our community and hopefully for those in other communities who now know more about all Sioux Falls has to offer.”

The best part about the partnership “was solidarity between the cities during a very challenging time,” Ward agreed.

“It is unusual for a city to promote another destination, but the pandemic has inspired a spirit of collaboration, which is very gratifying. In addition, it was an opportunity to use the power of other destinations to help carry our message.”

Visit Omaha was able to promote the other cities using its social media platforms to an audience of more than 165,000 people.

Stories about the collaboration also were picked up in Midwest Meetings, Exhibitor Magazine, PCMA News Junkie and USAE-mail, totaling a reach of 126,800.

More than 9,000 people engaged in the social media campaign, and Sioux Falls alone generated more than 6,000 email impressions.

“We absolutely proved we are stronger in spreading our message when we work together,” Schmidt said. “And we absolutely believe as people begin to travel more they will prefer to drive to their destinations. So it just makes sense for us to promote all there is to do regionally within an easy drive of our respective communities.”

To take in a “virtual vacation” or a virtual Sioux Falls “staycation,” click here. 

To see more visitor industry updates from Experience Sioux Falls, click here.