Yankton Press & Dakotan. March 22, 2021.
Editorial: A Tourism Rebound For South Dakota?
There’s optimism in the air, and understandably so, regarding the outlook for South Dakota’s tourism industry this year.
And if the state at large needs to look for hope as the COVID-19 pandemic (hopefully) subsides, it can turn to the Yankton area, which bucked the state trend and enjoyed record visitation numbers last year amid the worst of times.
According to a South Dakota News Watch story in Saturday’s Press & Dakotan, the state saw a 13% decrease in visitors last year compared to 2019, and spending tumbled by 18%, which was about $700 million.
However, the state’s District 9 recreation areas, which included state facilities from Gavins Point Dam to Springfield, enjoyed a great 2020. According to a Press & Dakotan story last fall, District 9 saw a whopping 49% increase in visitors from Jan. 1 through the end of September. That also included an 18% increase in camping numbers.
To be honest, this wasn’t really a surprise to local officials, although it would be too strong to say it was expected. Rather, those officials had a good feeling that the attributes of the local facilities could appeal to crowds during the COVID pandemic. Specifically, the camping facilities were perfect for social distancing purposes while allowing visitors to either engage in a familiar summertime ritual or get away from the pandemic grind in relative safety.
“It was good to see people out here you don’t normally see - even from different states we don’t normally see,” District Park Supervisor Shane Bertsch told the P&D at the time. “I talked to a few of those folks as well (last) summer. Their state might have been shut down and they wanted to come to some place that was still open.”
Anecdotally, another plus for the area was the clean conditions of the park facilities, especially at a time when cleanliness was a vital aspect of our COVID defense. We know of people who were particularly appreciative and reassured by the hard work put in by park workers.
South Dakota now looks forward to a rebound year in 2021. A combination of increased vaccinations across the nation coupled with (and we cannot possibly stress this enough) immense pent-up demand may produce a major surge in visitors that should help turn the state’s tourism numbers around.
How much of a boost Yankton will see, at least relative to 2020, is hard to tell. Last year’s big numbers create a high bar to meet, but judging from the traffic already being seen in Yankton the last few weeks - especially in stark contrast to last spring - the area is going to take a real run at it. Also, the opening of the Huether Family Aquatics Center this summer could bolster local numbers even further.
There is a lot of hope looming for state tourism this year, and the Yankton area - which was a clear bright spot amid a bleak 2020 - could help lead a big turnaround in 2021.
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