Dec. 5, 2022

This paid piece is sponsored by Experience Sioux Falls.

Countless people visit Sioux Falls each year whether it’s for a weekend getaway, sports tournament, convention or business. So who’s responsible for promoting the city to potential travelers? Enter Experience Sioux Falls. There were over 1.2 million people who visited Sioux Falls last year, and that’s just what Experience Sioux Falls could count.

The mission of Experience Sioux Falls is to market the city as a one-of-a-kind destination and provide an energized visitor experience to enhance economic impact. ESF, formerly known as the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been around since 1973 and recently became an independent organization.

ESF is what’s known within the travel industry as a DMO, or destination marketing organization. A DMO does exactly as the name suggests: markets the destination. DMOs are at both the city and state level, just as the South Dakota Department of Tourism does for the state.

ESF has a very strategic marketing plan to encourage the everyday leisure traveler to visit Sioux Falls. A dedicated sales team reaches out to people across the country in search of organizations and associations that could be a good fit for holding a future event in Sioux Falls.

The staff is led by CEO Teri Schmidt, who has nearly seen it all.

“You may not believe it, but there’s an association for just about everything, and they all have gatherings we can go after, such as an annual conference, a board meeting or trade show,” Schmidt said.

And hosting these types of events in Sioux Falls creates millions of dollars in economic impact.

“There’s big money to be had when it comes to hosting events like this because you have hundreds to thousands of people coming to the city to gather and enjoy Sioux Falls, which results in them leaving a lot of their hard-earned money here,” Schmidt said.

Recently, the ESF sales team has been working leads from around the country that would bring in new business to Sioux Falls. Some recent bookings include a 2023 meeting for the National Council of University Research Administrators.

“Our conversations with NCURA first started in 2015, so we’re excited to host that group after so many years of pitching Sioux Falls as a destination,” said Anna Derry, director of sales for ESF.

“During the last few months, we also had 32 group tours, otherwise known as bus tours, stop in Sioux Falls as part of their itinerary. This has been a growing market for us the last couple of years, so we’re excited to build on that momentum going into next year.”

The team also is working on a big event for 2024 “that would bring thousands of people to Sioux Falls for several days,” Derry continued. “There are still a few details to iron out, so it’s not official yet, but we hope to be able to close that one and make an announcement in the near future.”

The Experience Sioux Falls team is made up of 14 full-time staff members plus approximately 15 part-time people, including some newer additions who have hit the ground running.

Kate Solberg has joined as a sales manager following graduation from the University of South Dakota. She works with the corporate, agriculture, trade/business, medical and environmental markets.

Brandon Vant Hul came on as the new sports sales manager. He comes to ESF with a sports management degree and has enjoyed working to bring both new and repeat sporting events to the city.

ESF has a new business manager in Katie Roney. She has several years of experience in the managerial space, and she already has begun to implement some more efficient operational methods.

Briana Jewell took over as service manager. In this role, she connects with organizations that have booked their event in Sioux Falls to make sure their needs, such as registration assistance, are met for a successful event.

Meet the rest of the team.

Do you have a lead for a group to bring to Sioux Falls? Get in touch with the ESF sales team.