Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Tourism department seeks authority to match higher revenues; launches Destination Development and 'Forever 605' stewardship
Summary
The Department of Tourism briefed the Appropriations Committee on record visitation and spending, requested budget alignment authority, outlined a new Destination Development program for rural communities and highlighted the Forever 605 stewardship initiative to manage visitor impacts.
Pierre — The South Dakota Department of Tourism told the Joint Committee on Appropriations it had a record year for visitation and visitor spending and asked for additional expenditure authority to align its budget with higher-than-expected tourism-promotion revenues and grant awards.
Secretary Jim Hagen (Hagen identified himself as the department head) led a broad briefing covering the department’s structure, fiscal requests and two new initiatives: Destination Development, a rural tourism development effort, and Forever 605, a stewardship campaign aimed at reducing overtourism impacts. "I would rather have a better quality visitor who's staying longer and spending more money," Hagen told the committee in response to questions about overtourism.
The department reported FY 2024 totals of 14.9 million…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
