South Dakota must be doing something right. Visitors continue to flock to destinations throughout the Mount Rushmore State, which promotes a legacy of "Great Faces. Great Places," both manmade and natural.
They come for the spectacular scenic wonders of the southwest’s Black Hills and Badlands, to soak up the history and culture of the Great Plains and Old West, and to unwind and hunt and fish at its incredible number of sprawling lake recreation areas.
Topping the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2010, the state’s direct visitor spending increased 10 percent over 2009—the largest annual increase in at last three decades. This followed just a slight drop of 0.4 percent in 2009.
According to the South Dakota Office of Tourism, visitor numbers grew by 3 percent after a 1.2 percent increase in 2009 that bucked the national trend of a drop of more than 7 percent.
Rapid City
Known as the "Gateway to the Black Hills," Rapid City, the state’s second-largest city, is situated on the eastern slopes of the unparalleled granite and limestone formation.
"We’re centrally located and affordable," says Lisa Storms, director of sales and servicing at the Rapid City CVB, which markets the destination with the slogan, "Real. America. Up close." "People are looking to relax. You can get away from the rat race. Like all the other South Dakota destinations we all have our own space."
Black Hills attractions, she explains, are within an hour of the city.
"Groups want to see Mount Rushmore (23 miles from downtown), the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park and the Badlands," she says. "But there is so much more. The hard part is deciding."
The city’s primary group facility, Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, has a 10,000-seat arena; a 7,500-seat arena, a 1,752-seat theater and more than 175,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space. Along with the city’s fairgrounds, in February it hosted its annual Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo, attracting a record attendance of more than 300,000 over six days.
Of the city’s 5,300 guest rooms, 625 are nearby in four hotels, including the adjacent Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn with 14,000 square feet of meeting space. It is the city’s second-biggest meetings property. The largest is the 267-room Best Western Ramkota, located near Rushmore Mall and featuring 36,500 square feet of meeting space. Nearby, a Hilton Garden Inn with 6,000 square feet of meeting space is expected to open this summer.
Packed with restaurants, museums and attractions, the city’s historic core south of the civic center is served by a narrated trolley system Memorial Day through the Labor Day weekend. Stops include the "The City of Presidents," a series of life-size bronze statues of American presidents on street corners along a three-block-wide area between 4th and 9th streets, and Main Street Square, a new $16.5 million community gathering place opening this summer for concerts, festivals and a farmers market.
Also on the route are the Dahl Arts Center, reopened two years ago following a $7.8 million renovation, and the Journey Museum, which chronicles Black Hills history. The Dahl’s meeting spaces include a flexible 280-seat event center, and the entire Journey Museum, which has six meeting spaces, can be rented.
Deadwood
Created during the 1876 gold rush, the Black Hills frontier town of Deadwood is 40 miles northwest of Rapid City. Today it boasts 80 gaming places, 40 restaurants, more than 1,300 guest rooms and expanding meeting facilities.
Its biggest meetings property, the 140-room Lodge at Deadwood, opened in 2009 a couple of miles outside town. With a capacity for 1,700, it features a casino, a year-round indoor waterpark and 16,000 square feet of meeting space.
"It’s a great addition," says Philys Reller, group sales director at the Deadwood COC and Visitors Bureau. "We can go after larger meetings and conventions. We could only hold up to 400 people before."
This summer, another new major meetings property is expected to open: the 100-room Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel, Event Center & Casino on a mountaintop overlooking Deadwood’s legendary Main Street. Located in the remodeled 1906 gold mining plant of the Homestake Mining Co., it will include an entertainment and event center accommodating up to 2,500.
Other meetings properties include the Mineral Palace Hotel & Gaming, Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Resort and the Martin & Mason Hotel.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the whole town being declared a National Historic Landmark. Attractions include Mount Moriah Cemetery where Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok are buried, such museums as the Adams Museum and the Historic House, and the Broken Boot Gold Mine, which visitors can tour.
Spearfish
Just northwest of Deadwood, there’s another hub for Black Hills exploring: the city of Spearfish, also staked out in 1876.
Close to the Wyoming border and surrounded by three mountain peaks, it sits at the mouth of the Spearfish Canyon. South Dakota’s equivalent of the Grand Canyon features towering limestone cliffs and waterfalls and is accompanied by a 20-mile scenic byway and a range of recreational activities—from fly-fishing and rock climbing to snowmobiling.
The 26,000-square-foot Spearfish Convention Center has 14 meeting rooms, the largest hosting 1,100 theater style, and is attached to the 145-room Northern Hills Holiday Inn. The 54-room Spearfish Canyon Lodge, 10 miles up the canyon, has a meetings capacity for 100 people.
Sioux Falls
Dubbed the "Heart of America," Sioux Falls is South Dakota’s largest city, with a population of 158,000. Close to the Minnesota and Iowa borders, it is 350 miles from Rapid City.
"We are located in the middle of the U.S., very easy to get to, with very reasonable costs and high-quality facilities," says Teri Ellis Schmidt, executive director of the Sioux Falls CVB. "Our downtown is a progressive, vibrant and very active part of the city, and is especially popular for its many shops, cafes and events. We have museums, parks, biking and hiking trails, waterparks and the best shopping between Denver and Minneapolis."
A standout feature is the 42-acre Falls Park, a triple cascading waterfall in the heart of the city with trails, a five-story viewing tower, a seasonal light and sound show, a visitor information center, a cafe and historical ruins.
The Sioux Falls Convention Center delivers more than 100,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, including a 16,000-square-foot ballroom. Attached are the 243-room Sheraton Sioux Falls and the 8,000-seat Sioux Falls Arena. Adjacent to the arena are Sioux Falls Stadium, home to baseball’s Fighting Pheasants, and Howard Wood Field, a football and track facility.
About 1,000 of the city’s 4,000 hotel rooms are within a one-mile radius of the convention center. Major meetings properties include the Best Western Ramkota, with 60,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Holiday Inn City Centre, with 15,000 square feet.
Dozens of off-site venues are available, ranging from the 180-acre W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds to city parks and cultural institutions. One option is the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, which features the Visual Arts Center, Kirby Science Discovery Center, Wells Fargo CineDome Theater and Husby Performing Arts Center. Others include the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History and the Orpheum Theater Center.
Pierre
The Missouri River runs down through the state, splitting it in half. Located at the state’s center overlooking looking the river is Pierre, the capital since statehood in 1889. With a population of 14,000, it is the second-smallest state capital.
Beginning in the late 1940s, the river was dammed to create four massive reservoirs. One is Lake Oahe, close to the city and stretching for 230 miles along the river. Activities include camping, fishing, hunting, boating, water skiing, swimming, bird watching, hiking and biking.
"We have lots of outdoor recreation," says Lois Ries, director of the Pierre CVB. "We can arrange hunting and fishing and golf. Pheasant hunting is very popular October through the end of the year. We have a historic downtown that’s easy to get around and has events going on throughout the year. In addition, the city has a great parks system."
For meetings, the major hotels are the 151-room Best Western Ramkota Pierre, featuring 24,000 square feet of meeting space; the 57-room King’s Inn and Conference Center downtown, with 9,000 square feet of function space; and the 67-room AmericInn in Fort Pierre across the river, with 3,600 square feet of meeting space.
There are more than 900 hotel rooms and nine properties with meeting space.
Groups can stand on the Lewis and Clark Trail where the explorers met the Teton Sioux, charter the 46-passenger Capital City Queen for river cruises or tour the Oahe Dam power plant.
Attractions include the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center; the Buffalo Interpretive Center, which is operated by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and has a herd of 300 bison; and the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center, a museum with function space that recently opened in Fort Pierre.
Huron
Like many cities, Huron got its start during the railroad and land boom of the 1880s. A two-hour drive from both Pierre and Sioux Falls, it is home to the 190-acre State Fairgrounds and the annual South Dakota State Fair, held just before Labor Day.
With a population of 12,000 people, it boasts the world’s largest pheasant, a 28-foot-tall fiberglass bird that has presided over Highway 14 for more than 50 years. The ring-necked pheasant is the state bird.
This is a city packed with mural paintings on buildings—24 of them and growing, most downtown.
In the center of downtown, the Crossroads Hotel and Convention Center features an event center, 100 guest rooms and an arena. Together they have a total of 34,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, and can host banquets for up to 1,300. The city has more than 430 guest rooms.
Attractions include the fairground’s Dakotaland Museum; the Pyle House Museum, home to Gladys Pyle, the first elected woman U.S. senator; the Humphrey Drug Store, where Vice President Hubert Humphrey worked as a boy; and Ravine Lake, which is popular for water recreation and features an 18-hole golf course that opened in 2009.
"We are very rural and we have to make things happen; we have many events," says Peggy Woolridge, executive director at the Huron Chamber and Visitors Bureau. "There is stock car racing almost every week in summer at the fairgrounds speedway and pheasant hunting is big."
Aberdeen
Last year, Aberdeen, situated 90 miles north of Huron, launched the slogan, "Write Your Own Story—the Possibilities are Endless."
Its 201-acre Wylie Park includes Storybook Land and Land of Oz, a family attraction that has function space and is popular with groups. L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, lived here from 1888 to 1891.
"People are surprised what we have here. Most of our attractions are free," says Casey Weismantel, director of sales and convention services for the Aberdeen CVB. "We get conventions, reunions, bus tours and lots of pheasant hunters. And we can arrange geocaching tours, which are popular."
Aberdeen has 953 guest rooms and a downtown that includes dining and shopping, two hotels and the Capitol Theatre, a community playhouse built in 1926.
Attractions include the Dacotah Prairie Museum, the Granary Rural Cultural Center, the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Richmond Lake Recreation Area.
The Best Western Ramkota Hotel & Convention Center has a 10,000-square-foot convention hall, a 212-seat lecture hall and 5,000 square feet of meeting space; the Hampton Inn Suites and Dakota Event Center features 17,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; and the Aberdeen Ramada Convention Center has more than 8,000 square feet of space.
Other prominent facilities include the Barnett Center, an athletic and education complex at Northern State University, and the Brown County Fairgrounds, which includes Centennial Village, a re-creation of a pioneer town with many original historical buildings.
Watertown
Near the Minnesota border 100 miles north of Sioux Falls is Watertown, home to the Redlin Art Center, which houses many of the art works of wildlife artist and native son Terry Redlin.
The destination’s largest venue, the Watertown Event Center & Best Western Ramkota Hotel, seating up to 1,200 for banquets, has 101 guest rooms and 32,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.
Three miles away is historic Uptown Watertown, where a trolley system stops at sites such as the Redlin Art Center and the Bramble Park Zoo, both of which have function space; the Codington County Heritage Museum; Mellette House, home of the state’s first governor; and the Watertown Mall.
According to Karen Witt, director of the Watertown CVB, there are two lake recreation areas nearby and plenty of hunting, fishing, bird watching and geocaching, and the sites that inspired Redlin’s art provide a popular two-hour group itinerary.
"We can take meeting groups of 600 to 700 comfortably," she says. "We have a great location, with North Dakota and Minnesota nearby, and an airport with two flights a day from Minneapolis."
Tony Bartlett has been covering the travel trade industry for more than 20 years.
