Travel Indicators | Visitation | Inquiries | Web Traffic | Spending | National Indicators | 2010 Campaign | Key Terms
2010 Marketing Campaign
Hotel Data
Hotel indicators for the state began to bounce back from 2009, which was the worst year on record since the Great Depression. Hotel revenue in 2010 experienced a 6.9% increase over last year.
South Dakota continues to see an increase in occupancy at a rate lower than the national average. In year-over-year numbers, the U.S. increased 5.7% while South Dakota increased 2.2%. Room demand increased 4.2% while the supply of rooms increased 1.7%.
Travel and hotel expenses were cut back once the economy started going south, especially for businesses. Although hotel indicators are improving, Smith Travel Research estimates indicators will look much stronger in the second half of 2011 and are poised for double digit growth for the next few years.
Web Traffic
2010 saw a large increase of 9.1% in web traffic for www.TravelSD.com. We saw a large increase in traffic during peak season from March to August. A large increase of 14.4% occurred in January, which could be partially attributed to the rollout of the new TravelSD website. By looking at online bookings and information requests, we know that travelers are beginning to plan and book their summer vacations in April, May and June, which we can see reflected in the monthly visitors for those months.
Visitors spent an average of 4 minutes 55 seconds on the site, up from 4 minutes 24 seconds in 2009. By continually adding and updating information on our site through programs like Digital Revolution, visitors are finding more interesting content, thus staying on the site longer.
Car Counts
Car counts for domestic visitors increased 5% in 2010. South Dakota’s 13 information center’s open at the end of May and the majority close at the end of September. The remaining 3 centers closed on Oct. 31. This year, the centers saw a large increase (16.5%) in Canadian counts.
These counts need to be taken with a grain of salt. These numbers are only those visitors that sign the guest registry. Information Center staff work to have everyone who enters the center to sign the guest book, but some people slip by them.
State Park Visitation
Visitation to South Dakota’s state parks continues to increase. In 2010, 6.9 million visitors visited our parks, up 1.9% over 2009. State park revenue saw a bump of 3.9% as well.
National Park Visitation
Visitation at South Dakota’s 5 national parks and monuments increased 2.5% in 2010. Individual parks and monuments can been seen in the chart. Each attraction submits monthly visitation reports to the NPS. These numbers are then used to monitor visitation numbers.
Deadwood Gaming Handle
Deadwood gaming handle saw an increase of 2.6% in 2010. Gaming in Deadwood was especially strong during shoulder season, which was up 4.9% over last year’s shoulder season. March was the strongest month for gaming (up 15.6%), while November (down 11.1%) was the weakest.
Revenue
Gaming
Gaming revenue for 2010 increased 4.3% to over $3.3 million dollars. Again, shoulder season was strong with a 9.6% increase followed closely by winter season with an increase of 8.7%. September was the weakest month with a decrease of 16.2% while February and August were the strongest with 14.9% increases each.
Promotion
Shoulder season out-performed Winter and Peak with an increase of 18.1%. September was the strongest month with an increase of 32.8% while February also saw a good month with a15.6% increase. August was the weakest with a decline of 9.3% followed by a 7.6% decline in January.
0.5% Tax
Since it’s inception in Aug 2009, the half-cent tax has generated approximately $3.2 million dollars. In FY10, $2.05 million dollars were generated.
Taxable Sales
The shoulder season performed extremely well in FY10. Shoulder season was up 18.8% while the FY was up 7.7%. September was the best performer with an increase of 32.6% followed by February with an increase of 18%. December saw the largest decline of 10.7% followed closely by August with a decline of 10.3%.
U.S. Travel Forecast
Leisure travel is expected to increase within the next three years. By 2013, the number of leisure travels in the U.S. is expected to be higher than before the recession.
Business travel in the U.S. is expected to increase greatly in 2011 after seeing sharp decreases in 2007, 2008 and 2009. While business travel will be increasing, it is unlikely that it will be at the level seen in 2006.
For more information regarding these travel indicators please contact Ashley Worth at Ashley.Worth@state.sd.us or call 605-773-3301.
