Published on : Saturday, May 26, 2018
The South Dakota tourism officials are targeting a foreign country with a big appetite for international travel.
The state officials are working with a marketing company in China to try to attract the millions of Chinese tourists who come to the United States each year.
The U.S. Travel Association says the number of Chinese visitors increases each year. In 2016, nearly 3 million Chinese residents visited the U.S., the third largest number of tourists behind Japan and the United Kingdom. The tourists’ number is expected to increase by 7 to 10 percent each year and surpass Japan by 2020.
The goal of the state Department of Tourism’s contract with East West Marketing is to make sure Chinese travellers see what South Dakota has to offer before they decide on a U.S. destination.
Mount Rushmore in western South Dakota is an obvious draw across the globe, but the state has a wide variety of attractions for international travellers, Goodman said.
The tourism department is making sure that Chinese visitors to the U.S. see what South Dakota has to offer before they decide on a specific destination.
The state brings in more than $100 million each year thanks to visitors from other countries. Money raised from international tourists dropped to a five-year low in 2017.
Tourism in general was mostly flat last year in South Dakota, floating right near the 2016 high-water mark of 13.9 million visitors.
Now South Dakota takes a targeted approach to international marketing. It also has contracts with Rocky Mountain International to get exposure in the European markets and Australia and with FieldStar International to draw visitors from Japan.
Tags: South Dakota, Tourism