Growing Places
Growing Places
Take Two on Tourism
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SMGA's Chris Fields talks tourism with Carmen Schramm Executive Director for the Tourism Coalition of South Dakota and return guest Kasi Haberman, Executive Director for Southeast South Dakota Tourism. Join the trio as they talk all things tourism, the #2 Industry in South Dakota.
Hidden Gems: Good Earth State Park, The Good Earth Farm, and Steever House.
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SPEAKER_04Welcome back to Growing Places, your one-stop shop for all things economic development in the Sioux Falls MSA. My name is Chris Fields with the Siumetro Growth Alliance, and I am here today with Carmen Stram and Cassie Haberman from the southern part of the state. Ladies, can you uh starting with you, Carmen, you want to give us a little quick intro and tell us about yourself?
SPEAKER_03Sure. I'm the Executive Director of the Tourism Coalition of South Dakota. Uh we were formerly known as the Visitor Industry Alliance, or the VIA. And we've been around for about 31 years, and we are the member-driven nonprofit advocacy group for the tourism industry across the state of South Dakota. We're not affiliated with Travel South Dakota. We're an independent group that just is the watchdog for legislation and such for the tourism industry.
SPEAKER_04Right on. So you guys operate kind of like the uh lobbying arm for the industry. Pretty much. Awesome. So you you spent a few months in PEER the start of the year.
SPEAKER_03You know, luckily luckily, no, I did not. We hire a lobbyist to do that. I'm kind of the liaison between the membership and our lobbyist when things are happening in PEER.
SPEAKER_04Cool. Good deal. Casey, do you want to give us a quick intro? It's good to see you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you too. Um so yeah, my name's Casey Hauberman. I am the executive director of the Southeast South Dakota Tourism Association. So we are a membership organization that is charged with um helping our members um welcome visitors to the state and grow the economic impact for the visitor industry in our region. Awesome. And I work with Carmen um as her vice president on the TCSD board of directors. So yeah.
SPEAKER_04Awesome. Good deal. So you guys work pretty close together, it sounds like we do a lot of work together.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Awesome. Uh Carmen, let's let's ask you uh can you give us kind of a little bit more of your background? How what got how did you find tourism and and what did you do before this and what what does your role entail now?
SPEAKER_03Okay, let's see, I have a long resume. Um I've been I've been tourism uh tourism for quite some time. Um I started out in the retail world when I first started, but uh worked in some communications, newspaper radio. Um actually was in Casey's position a long, long time ago. And that's kind of really where I got the tourism bug. Yeah. And from there I went and worked for the Department of Tourism for three and a half years, worked under the Jenkle administration. And when I left there, I was involved in selling visitor guides and various other things. And back in s uh October of 2024, when this group rebranded to TCSD Tourism Coalition, they were looking for uh a full-time person because regulation and everything has been happening a lot, and it was time to have that full-time person who was there twelve months out of the year and such. And I was like, yeah, this is like right up my alley. So that's kind of how I got involved with this organization.
SPEAKER_04That's cool. So you you probably have seen the tourism industry in South Dakota grow and maybe shrink a little bit and then grow and now look at now look at us.
SPEAKER_03You know, it's interesting that you that you say that because when I was working for tourism, this group was just percolating and getting formed. So it feels full circle to come back and being part of those meetings way back then. And the purpose of the VIATCSD at that time was to find a permanent funding source for the Department of Tourism because their funding was coming out of the general funds, and every year they had to go in front of appropriations. You never knew what kind of budget you were gonna have. Really difficult to plan, marketing, and various other things when you don't know what your budget is going to be. Fast forward 31 years, I mean, the world has changed so significantly. You know, the internet wasn't even a thing back when I was in in the state.
SPEAKER_01Nope.
SPEAKER_03And so um so when I talk about regulation, I mean it's constant and uh there are always potential threats to budgets and such. And so the the reality of what we do is to make sure that the state continues to be funded well, that our different sectors of our industry are protected, you know, whether it's outfitters, whether it's, you know, just the average business that markets a lot so that there aren't any bills that are going to be, like I said, detrimental to what they do.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And the what's unique about the tourism industry, too, in my opinion, is not only do you have to watch out for legislation in the state, but you guys are probably watching out federally. I mean, you've got restaurants, you have to keep an eyes on OSHA bills and all sorts of health department bills, I'm sure. And I mean just such a broad range of uh coalition building and lobbying.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I you know almost almost everything that we do in the in the tourism industry touches all the things that you just mentioned. Um then some. And then some, yes. And we we were actually in DC like f four weeks ago, I think it was. And you know, our our ask there is a little bit different, a little bit higher level when we go to DC. But you know, one of the the main focuses this year with the USTA, the United States Travel Association, who puts on the fly in into DC, uh, was to talk to our congressional leadership and say you have to take TSA and the TSA agents out of shutdowns because it's just too chaotic and it's a security risk and various other things. We also talked to them about J1 and H2B visas, you know, and the importance of having those people available during the summer months.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Um we need those numbers increased because there are not enough of them. And I mean there's a multitude of other things. We talk about public lands. You know, they were trying to sell public lands here a year ago and which were opposed to conservation pieces, the farm bill, which doesn't make sense sometimes to people of why we're paying attention to it. But you know, we've got uh conservation efforts that go on with pheasant hunting and you know, wildlife habitat and various other things. All those things kind of trickle down into what, you know, impacts our entire state.
SPEAKER_04Right. I I typically don't like to get political on this, but going back to the HB one visas or H B two visas, I really think they should figure something out about that, because a hundred thousand dollar price tag just for one visa, I mean that that rules out a ton of it does rule out a lot of yeah, yeah. It does.
SPEAKER_03You know, and then one of the other bills that they're talking about, or well actually it's I don't know if it's been implemented now or now or not or yet, but um international visitors having to pay to get into our national parks, you know, the fee that they're looking at. And you know, we have b bus tour operators who are going, uh you know, if a if a family of four is going to come visit a national park, you know, how what is that what kind of effect is that having? So, you know, these are conversations that we have on a regular basis that, you know, have to be figured out and find a good solution to them.
SPEAKER_04Right on.
SPEAKER_02Can they can I say like the other thing that I think is super important and a big part of um your role, especially at this point in time, um a lot of the people that were involved in the process of getting VIA up and running um are now no longer involved. And so educating people about how all of this came about and how that funding structure um came to be, um, making sure people understand why it's so important and and and why it's important to keep it in place, you know, because we're the envy of a lot of other surrounding states. And I think a lot of people in the state um maybe sometimes either don't realize or or maybe take it for granted too. So I think that's a important part of it, and also finding those new uh people to pick up that torch and and continue to to run with it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, keeping that leadership going and showing up when it matters.
SPEAKER_04That's exactly right. Well it correct me if I'm wrong, but other than agriculture, isn't tourism like the second largest industry in the state?
SPEAKER_03And we have the numbers to prove it. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_04No, it's it's it's not like tourism is a a a little thing to the South Dakota economy. It's it's a big deal to our economy.
SPEAKER_03And the interesting thing about tourism is it's it's it's very resilient. I mean, yeah over the last 31 years we have seen all kinds of things. And you know, just for example, COVID. Okay. You know, COVID decimated a lot of different states and everything else. And actually, because of our wide open spaces and all of our state and national parks and stuff, people came here. People came here. We stayed open. And um the bounce back for us was you know, we even had an increase that year, if I recall. And you know, so it's it's a very resilient industry because people want to travel. Yeah. And travel is healthy for you. And you know, way too many people don't take their vacations and such. But now, you know, people have also lived to or learn to work from wherever. If they're vacationing, they can still work, which we don't encourage. But at the same time, you know, you can you can still travel, you can still do your work while you're traveling and everything, but it is really interesting to see how resilient it is.
SPEAKER_02Well, the other really good benefit of tourism too is is that sometimes um, you know, uh even a marketing, like an ad um is someone's first like introduction to the the destination. And so a lot of times tourism is what will bring a new resident here or someone that could be potentially looking for a place to move their business to and those kinds of things. So that's another way that it's really important to economic development as well.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you you all have no idea how many times I'm in economic development, how many times I've heard uh a new business owner that moved his business from out of state or a family that that moved here from Texas or California and their their first exposure, and the reason that they moved here was because they came and vacationed either in the Sioux Falls area or maybe rapid or up north and they just fell in love. Yeah. So it's uh it's a true testament to w the tourism industry and the infrastructure that we have around it and uh great state uh to come raise and and play and raise a family and do all the things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I've been traveling for the last two weeks, excuse me, for National Travel and Tourism Week. And um when I've been doing different interviews or having presentations in front of crowds, my my question is how many of you are originally from the state of South Dakota? And it's really interesting how many people in the room are not necessarily born and raised in the state, but they moved here, whether their families moved here for a job, uh retirement, you name it. So it definitely is one of those industries where if people if you're nice, if they like the area, if they're treated well, you know, like Casey said, they may retire here, they may move a business here, that kind of thing. So, you know, what we're talking about with hospitality, we went to a hospitality training seminar this morning, and the state puts these on every year, they're free, and it just tells people the all the reasons why good hospitality is great for our state.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm a South Dakota transplant. There you go.
SPEAKER_03Where are you from? Kansas City, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I've I grew up in all over the country, but primarily in the Kansas City area. Uh my first ten years of my life were in Kansas City. Then my dad's job with JC Pennies moved us around. We were in Indiana and Illinois for a year each, Kentucky and Massachusetts for three years each, graduated high school in Massachusetts, and moved back down to Kansas to go to the University of Kansas for my undergrad. Ultimately made my way to the Joplin, Missouri area for a couple years and then moved up here with my kids in 2016. So yeah, world traveler here, but South Dakota's home and has been home for you know almost 10 years now, and we just love it. It's fantastic. So let's go back to you, Casey. Tell us a little bit. You're with the Southeast South Dakota Tourism Alliance. Um tell us a little bit about your background. How did you get into tourism? What's keeping you in tourism?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, so yeah, I uh grew up just across the uh Nebraska border, um about 15 miles southwest of Yankton in Crofton, Nebraska. And uh for uh the first part of my career, I lived in Omaha and I was the uh marketing manager for one of the largest shopping centers in Nebraska, um Westroads Mall, there in Omaha. And we, my husband and I moved home in uh 2016 and came home to um hopefully renovate the shopping center there in Yankton. And um, and then my friend Carmen here approached me about an open position for the tourism director in the city of Yankton. Um and so she and I worked together for a number of years there at the Chamber of Commerce in Yankton, and so I like to tell people that that's where I got bit by the tourism bug and absolutely fell in love with it. And uh so that that's why I'm super passionate about uh the tourism coalition too, is because I've recognized how important that funding mechanism is for the entire state, and um protecting it is very, very important. So um, so yeah, and then um after my stint with the uh chamber there in Yangton, I was at the Archery Center for about a year and a half, and then this position opened up and saw it as an exciting opportunity to completely reinvent the organization, and so I've been busy doing that since then.
SPEAKER_04You certainly have. You so our connection to each other. Um SMGA is a member of Southeast South Dakota Tourism, and kind of by virtue of our relationship with you, all 17 of our member communities are members as well. Um and I do economic development not only for SMGA, but also for the city of Garretsen through a service contract that SMGA has between Garretsen and I would say uh of any community in the SMGA footprint, Garretsen probably has the most tourism or tourism opportunity um uh you know, besides Sioux Falls. But uh with our park system and everything, the Devil's Gulch Palisades, Split Rock Park, yeah. Um we're in the middle doing a Main Street revitalization initiative in Garretsen, and so I've been able to get to know you and your team quite a bit. Chris Firk from Garretsen is on your board of directors. She's gonna represent us at the uh conference and the lit lit swap out there in Mitchell. So you want to tell us a little bit about the conference coming up in Mitchell?
SPEAKER_02Sure, absolutely. I'd love to. So yeah, we um we kind of rebranded our annual meeting um and turned it into what did it like we changed the name to represent really what it is, which is a tourism summit. So um and we paired it up with the lit drop. So um we wanted to make sure that we were providing learning opportunities, networking opportunities, um, and really trying to provide important information that that businesses or communities would be able to take from that um that event and implement in their in their communities. So we're partnering up with Sadie Swear with the South Dakota CEO Women's Business Center to provide information on how tourism businesses could scale up their businesses and maybe think about things a little bit differently. We are working with Mike Gushis from Travel South Dakota who is going to be talking about different opportunities that are available through the co-ops and the a la carte program, and then also how we work together to benefit our members. And then we have one of our partners that we work with out of Omaha that's coming up to talk about how businesses should be utilizing or how they can utilize AI and making sure that they're doing certain things to not be built left behind with this new AI kind of like revolution that's happening. So um and again, we're pairing it up with the lit drop, which is the free opportunity for industry members to get their publications to all five welcome centers at no additional cost. So um it's gonna be a fun, full day of all of those things, and we're super excited about it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it should be a good day. I'm gonna have to miss it this year, unfortunately. Um, but I always get good feedback from Garretsen representatives and others about the conference. So uh Carmen, let's go back to you. Um let's discuss kind of the state of tourism in South Dakota right now. Let's talk about some of the trends you you you all are seeing, um demographics where people are coming from to visit, you know, things like that.
SPEAKER_03You know, first of all, I just want to say we compete globally now. We don't just compete with the five-state area like, you know, things have changed significantly. And the budget allows the Department of Tourism to do a lot more than what they used to be able to do prior to them having a p a permanent funding source. But um, you know, we have some big events going on this year. So America 250th is gonna be a big one for the state of South Dakota. I mean, what's much more iconic than Mount Rushmore and the stuff that we have going on in our state. And then, you know, you've got the World Cup and you've got other things, the 2028 uh Olympics that are gonna be in LA. All these things are huge opportunities for the state of South Dakota to get some of this uh traffic that's gonna be going through the United States and everything. But uh in South Dakota we've got so many activities taking place for the 250th that you're not gonna be able to turn around without seeing a red, white, and blue parade somewhere or some kind of cool event that's taking place that uh is just gonna make everybody feel very, very loving about their country. Patriotic. Absolutely, thank you. And uh so we see some trains trends, the trends are looking really good right now. Um hotel bookings are up, uh you're seeing campground uh units and camping. Obviously the weather's been pretty decent for that kind of thing. Last spring was pretty wet, but uh our state parks are are doing pretty well right now.
SPEAKER_04Split rock parking garrets, and they've already had campers.
SPEAKER_03I know we have in Yankton too. So that's been awesome to see the numbers have been good. Um and I just we know some of our international people are coming back from Canada, so that's looking good. And so we're anticipating seeing a really good year this year, barring anything crazy going on. But um, you know, some of the things that we've been talking about with National Travel and Tourism Week this week is just the impact that these numbers have from 2025. And we welcomed almost 15 million visitors last year to the state of South Dakota, which was a slight increase. It was still an increase even though we had that kind of a challenging year last year. Um but those people spent over five billion dollars. And that five that five billion dollars translates down into about four hundred and six million dollars worth of state and local taxes. And out of those state and local taxes, two hundred and twenty million of that came back directly to communities. So that's a huge economic driver.
SPEAKER_04Those are big numbers.
SPEAKER_03Those are big numbers. And so they were increases, and we've had increases ever since, like I said, that they received a permanent funding source. So um we just need residents to really understand how important the industry is because they save taxpaying households save one point one or one thousand one hundred and twenty-one dollars a year uh based on the income that comes in and the revenue that comes in from tourism.
SPEAKER_04Wow, I never considered that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And and if you want to talk even further, I've got I've got data for you that you can use if you want to later on, but Minne Haha County um uh they are in the Southeast region, Casey's region. And so Casey's region here uh of visitor spending, that was to over two two billion dollars of that total five billion dollars that we're talking about. That's a 40 percent uh share coming into Southeast South Dakota. That's wild. And that I think was it correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you had the highest visitor spending of the regions. Four years, uh four years running. Yep. So you know, obviously with with Sioux Falls being the largest community in the state is a huge driver. But at the same time, you know, that's really significant for the small region that it is. And so um that's 17,000 jobs, a little over 17,000 jobs that are in the tourism sector just in Minneha County.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So the labor income from that for homes is$766 million. So that yeah, that's significant. So, you know, we just really want the average person on the street to understand that it's super important to be kind to those visitors, to know your state so you can help share what's wonderful about our state and where they should go visit. And you know, just be welcoming and be patient, I guess we say a lot of times too, you know, because things get a little crazy sometimes during the busiest part of.
SPEAKER_04But people are in unfamiliar territory and they don't know which way to but people love South Dakota.
SPEAKER_03Yes and they always say how friendly everybody is, and you know, we just want to kind of keep that going because the consumer sentiment is so important because we rank so much higher than most other states do as far as people knowing the importance of tourism. And we want them to consider keep thinking that way because it is very impactful to the state.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, one of the breakout sessions I went to at the tourism conference talked about a lot of a lot of those numbers and kind of the temperature of how South Dakota view tourism. And I was surprised that uh it was, you know, pretty strong. South Dakotans have a good grasp on the tourism industry and they really care about tourism, and it was it was refreshing to see that. Um let's kind of go back to America 250. I I can't speak for the other 49 states, but from what I have seen uh in our president and CEO Tyler's on the 250 Commission, one of the South Dakota reps. But from my vantage point, it seems like South Dakota is really embracing this America 250 this year. We talk about that and what what you both are seeing from this America 250 push, particularly in South Dakota.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, there's a lot of parades taking place, you know, that that are gonna be on the Fourth of July weekend and stuff.
SPEAKER_04Um maybe maybe Sioux Falls will actually have their parade this year. I believe they do, aren't they? They had to cancel the last two years because of rain. Yeah. Oh, that's a big deal. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, and I would just say that, you know, um, I think um a lot of the visitor industry is taking the lead um from you know the from Travel South Dakota. They're they have the new Stars and Stripes passport. They're doing a good job of um pushing those events out to people um through, you know, a lot of their different channels, but then all of the other, you know, entities such as Southeast South Dakota are doing the same. So we've built out a new um landing page that helps our members um kind of like get all of the two America 250 or even just the Americana type experiences. They don't have to be specifically events, but you know, you've got like Adams Park, some of those kind of things that that people are looking for. And you know, I just uh came off of the uh international roundup. We were out, or I was out in uh Madora, North Dakota visiting with international travel agents, um, educating them on the product that we have here in the region and you know, going back to um Americana type things, and then also you talking about Garretson. It was interesting to me that how much how interested they all are in that um cowboy culture. So a big topic that you know we I talked about with a lot of them was was uh Jesse James and and Garrettson and all that, and so they were fascinated by all of that. So um that's something unique too that that we have here in South Dakota is that cowboy culture and that history, you know, while Bill Hook and all that. Wild West.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah, I I I can't speak for a lot of the communities in our region, um, but I sure can speak for Garrettson. We and Chris Firk will probably go over some of what's going on in Garrettson this summer uh at the conference, at the summit. But um Chris Furk had this awesome idea to purchase a whole bunch of American flags and pass uh pass them out at City Hall and have residents come pick them up and display them in their yards. And uh I know that um our Fourth of July celebration, which will be held on the 3rd of July, uh, is gonna have a little America 250 tinge to it. Shameless plug for Garretson Fourth of July. If you've never been to Garrettson for the Fourth of July, it is one one of if not the most spectacular Fourth of July fireworks displays in the region, if if not the state. I will put that brag on there. So come visit us in Garretsen some year.
SPEAKER_03And uh Vermillion, uh I think tomorrow the traveling 250th flag is going to be uh put up at the concrete plant there and it'll be over the weekend, and then it moves on Monday to another location. I'm not sure where it is all over in the state of South Dakota, but Vermillion will have it over the weekend, and it's a huge plug huge flag, so it'll be kind of fun to see that go up.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, I'm I I'm so excited to see everything um that's happening this year. If if Tyler were here, he'd have so many more stories to to tell. We can we can visit that on another podcast. Um but talk about uh some of the challenges maybe we might have this year, the next couple years. I know, again, don't want to get too much into politics, but the gas prices right now is is that gonna be a challenge to get visitors into the state or traveling from within the state this year?
SPEAKER_03We've had a lot of conversations about that. Um this is not the first time we've had high gas prices.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And you know, the the traveler sentiment studies that they're showing is people want to travel. And so they may travel more regionally. Um those kind of things usually play well to the state of South Dakota. And um they're still gonna come, but they may adjust their spending habits a little bit. Uh one of the conversations that I had out west last week was the hotel years say you can kind of tell, you know, if gas prices are high, what they generally see is more pizza boxes in their hotel rooms. Because the families may not go out to do that four-family, five-family member meal like they normally would, but they'll adjust their spending slightly. You may not see them buying five t-shirts, you may see them buying two t-shirts, that kind of thing. But we really don't feel that it's going to affect travel this year. Because again, this is one of those rare years that we have this opportunity with the 250 of that people want to get out. Um and so not saying that it won't have a little bit of an effect, but I believe I've been traveling the last two weeks and I've seen gas prices go all over the place while I've been traveling. Um but we don't see that as the the big factor that's going to maybe keep people from traveling.
SPEAKER_02And I'll say too that because of the sophistication of uh Travel South Dakota and the agencies that they work with, they can react to situations like that. So um if they see that certain markets are are not looking to travel at such quite such a distance, they'll kind of pivot and bring that kind of that um target in a little bit and really focus on those drive drive visits and road trips and things like that. So so yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's good. Yeah, and we so we talked about uh America 250 at length. Um, but you also mentioned the World Cup being in the United States this year, too. So there's gonna be way more. Well, I don't know about way more, but there's gonna be a ton of uh international travelers coming in for that. And do you see them coming up? You know, Kansas City is one of the sites for the World Cup, which is only a five-hour drive. I make the drive down to KC to visit my family seven, eight times a year. It's lickety split. So are you gonna are we gonna see some of that the World Cup travel?
SPEAKER_03Because some of these teams have a week or better in-between play. Yeah. You know, so they have time, and like you said, it's it's a five-hour trip. Um so we're kind of hoping that within their time that they have that they are going to try to be hitting bucket list areas and like again Mount Rushmore, you know, is usually on that list. Now they may be traveling through rather quickly, but at the same time, you know, we think that we will get some of that traffic because I think they're trying to target some of those areas.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I visited with we had a fam tour after the um w after IRU and I visited with a couple of the folks um, you know, in internationally football is much bigger. Um and so I did ask that question. I said, you know, what are you guys seeing? And and and what I heard was that, yeah, um, these international folks are gonna be coming and what they do, uh so the fans too, not just the teams. So um and and you know, you think about like if you're going over to Ireland to go watch a Husker game, you're not just gonna go to the Husker game and come home. You're gonna spend probably a week to two weeks there really kind of immersing and taking advantage of the opportunity. So that's what they're telling us, is that we should expect to see some of that happening. Um, and yeah, I think Travel South Dakota is doing a good job of trying to um get that awareness out there for those folks that are coming to the States for that.
SPEAKER_04Are they do you know off offhand uh is Travel South Dakota or other avenues running ads down in the Kansas City? I want to say they are. I think I did hear that. Yeah, they are. Well that's good. Yeah. Yeah, I uh I'm a huge soccer fan, always been a soccer fan, played soccer as a kid, the real football, uh the best sport in the world. So unfortunately, we'll do not have tickets as we speak to the World Cup down in Kansas City, but still open for uh a viewing uh down at Arrowhead Stadium at some point.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the the gentleman that I spoke with said that even the international people that can't get tickets, they're still planning to come over. Some of them are planning to come over just for kind of the the fan experience outside of the stadium, too. Yeah. So it's really interesting how big of a fan of big a fans they are of the sport.
SPEAKER_04In Kansas City too, the reason that they were selected is not because they are right, SmackDab, in the center of the country, it's because the soccer culture in Kansas City is immense. And so whether you can make it inside the stadium for the game or not, it's still the place that you want to be. And and I hope that a lot of those people in between games and such will make their way up north I-29 and come check us out.
SPEAKER_03So and you know, our Travel South Dakota group, um international is big for us. And Cole does a great job of getting out there and Kyler. Yeah, Kyler. Um I mean they are constantly traveling, and you know, they came back and reported to us a couple weeks ago that uh the regardless of what the feelings are for the United States, South Dakota seems to be higher up on their it doesn't matter. We want to come to South Dakota. So we are they are doing a lot of work on that international market to make sure that South Dakota stays in the spotlight as far as the place to visit. And going back to what Casey said, you know, they're very interested in the Western culture, they're very interested in the Native American culture, they're very interested in the art culture. And so um those guys are doing a great job as far as you know enticing these different groups, these uh travel groups to bring groups to South Dakota.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Mount Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse and other attractions are high on the list of international travel travelers. So that's good. Um so as we wrap up here, we never let anybody off the hook on this podcast without discussing their uh their hidden gym within this Sioux Metro uh metropolitan area. So our just so y'all know, um our territory, we span Lincoln County, McCook, Turner, and many ha-ha 17 member municipalities that go as far west as Montrose and Canistota as far south as Beersford and Alcester as far north as Dell Rapids and as far east as the border. So uh let's ask you, Casey. Um you travel up here quite a bit. What is your hidden gym in the Sioux Falls metropolitan area?
SPEAKER_02Well, so can I pair up a couple things because I just came off of IRU and so I was doing that a lot with my pitch. But um, so you know, a really fun experience for someone um that might not be familiar would be to hit up um Good Earth State Park, um, maybe hop over because Good Earth State Park, I think really there's a lot of people that don't really understand what it is. You hear it and maybe you haven't gone to experience it, but they it's a brand new welcome center. Um it's it's gorgeous, and it really tells the story of the trade that was going on there um thousands of years ago. Um and then you've also kind of in that same area over in Lennox, you got the Good Earth Farm. So there's a kind of a cool story there between those two. So you get Good Earth State Park and Good Earth Farm. Um but uh she makes fantastic um wood-fired pizzas. Um hanging out on the lawn is just such a really kind of chill, laid-back, fun experience in the summertime. And then another one there in Lennox is the Stever House. Um, so it is that house is a historic home. Um, moved 70 miles from, I think, down in Clay County, um, and just a really laid-back country bed and breakfast, and John does a fantastic job with international visitors and and and folks in the un in from the US, but a great cook, great storyteller, and so you kind of got a really fun package all in that that tight little area down there.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's that's that's an awesome answer. Yeah, the good the Good Earth farm. Um we had a um one of our member advisory board meetings down there, and they did the wood fired pizza for us, and all the farm animals came up to to greet us. The goats and all came to greet us as we were coming up. It was it was really cool. But yeah, there those are some some great spots in in Linux and the the Sioux Metro. So uh ladies, I really appreciate you, Casey. Uh Carmen, really appreciate you coming on the show, discussing Southeast South Dakota Tourism, discussing the tourism coalition. If you all are not a part of Southeast South Dakota Tourism or the South Dakota Tourism Coalition, and you're in the tourism industry or tourism adjacent industry, I highly recommend checking out these two organizations. They are fantastic resources, um, fantastic organizations to promote uh and expand tourism in the state of South Dakota.
SPEAKER_01Appreciate that. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04We appreciate it. Well, thank you, ladies, and we'll catch you next time.
SPEAKER_00We hope you learned something new that we're gonna think that's unlike a lot of people.