PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — State officials report that South Dakota’s tourism industry is having a good year.
The South Dakota Tourism Department says hotel occupancy statewide is up 7.8 percent so far this year, meaning hotels and motels are filling more rooms compared with the same period last year. Nationally, hotel occupancy is up only 3.4 percent.
Taxable sales reported by motels, campgrounds and other tourism-related businesses are up 7 percent for the year so far.
And the department reports that the number of new visitors to its primary tourism promotion website in the second quarter was up nearly 28 percent from a year earlier.
