May 6, 2025

This piece is sponsored by Experience Sioux Falls. 

Destinations across the country are recognizing the importance of the travel industry this week for National Travel and Tourism Week. Established more than 40 years ago by the U.S. Travel Association, NTTW is an annual celebration that highlights the importance the industry plays in the U.S. economy.

In fact, South Dakota households avoided $1,011 in additional taxes in 2024 thanks to the 14.9 million visitors to the state who spent $5.09 billion throughout the year, generating almost $400 million in state and local taxes.

The southeast region of South Dakota, which also includes Minnehaha and Lincoln counties, made up 40.2 percent of visitor spending statewide last year.

“With over $2 billion in visitor spending last year, we’re proud to say the southeast region of the state led the way for another year, thanks to the work that everyone in this community does to make Sioux Falls a desirable and welcoming destination,” said Teri Schmidt, CEO of Experience Sioux Falls.

In Sioux Falls, Falls Park remains a top attraction for both overnight visitors and those who are just passing through. Almost 18,000 visitors have entered the Falls Park Visitor Information Center so far this year through the end of April.

Of those visitors, the top five states they represent are Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Texas. The top five countries they represent outside the U.S. are Canada, Nicaragua, Germany, England and Israel.

“Despite a forecasted dip in international travel to our country this year, South Dakota is still an attractive vacation destination among those looking to travel to the United States,” Schmidt said.

During National Travel and Tourism Week, Experience Sioux Falls will show its appreciation to industry partners throughout the week and will feature a behind-the-scenes video series with a variety of Sioux Falls businesses on its social media channels. Follow @experiencesfsd to watch the video series.

Experience Sioux Falls also has new quizzes to take as part of an online training program it rolled out last year. There are two quizzes, with one centered around Sioux Falls attractions and the other focused on customer service tips and best practices.

“We originally created the online training program as a resource for front-line hospitality staff, but we invite everyone to take the quizzes — you never know when you’ll have the chance to assist a visitor,” said Krista Orsack, director of marketing of Experience Sioux Falls.

“The program includes fun facts about our city, all aimed at making it easier to answer the common visitor question: ‘What is there to do here?’”

Next week, Experience Sioux Falls will wrap up its NTTW celebrations with the annual Visitor Industry Luncheon on Tuesday, May 13, at the Convention Center with inspiring leadership speaker and entertainer Jason Hewlett. Winners of the annual Visitor Industry Awards also will be recognized during the luncheon.

Annual visitor luncheon to feature entertaining keynote, annual awards