Tourists, visitor spending reach record heights
2023 saw extensive media coverage of South Dakota attractions
PIERRE – South Dakota saw a record 14.7 million visitors in 2023, generating $4.96 billion in visitor spending.
“This, too, is an all-time record and oh so close to eclipsing the $5 billion mark of visitor spending,” Secretary of Tourism Jim Hagen announced Wednesday.
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The billions in visitor spending marked a 4.9 percent increase, and that spending also generated $384 million in revenues for state and local governments. Nearly 58,000 jobs are supported by the industry.
Hagen spoke to hundreds of tourist industry representatives in a luncheon during the second day of the three-day South Dakota Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
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