BH Tourism Index: +4.2% | Black Hills & Badlands - South Dakota

BH Tourism Index: +4.2%

Phone: 
(605) 355-3600

With March numbers in for all but one of the Black Hills and Badlands region's National Parks, and the rest of the Black Hills Tourism Index metrics updated through February, the Index shows a hot start to 2016. It's currently up 4.20% over the same time frame in record-setting 2015.

In February, with the BH Hotel Occupancy down 1.2%, all other indicators were up. Taxable Sales (up 5.7%), the Deadwood Total Gaming Handle (up 6.5%) and recreational park visitation (7,899 more visitors) all saw gains over February 2015.

Park Rec. visits as a whole were also up significantly in March (43%). For the month, 6,912 more visitors passed through park gates with Badlands National Park the only park down (-6.5%). Devils Tower numbers are not yet posted for the month.

The positive early numbers reflect the early interest seen on both blackhillsbadlands.com and across BH&B's social channels. Blackhillsbadlands.com traffic is up 43% through March but most importantly, site goals—actions that indicate a strong desire to travel to the region—are up 62%.

The ever-popular Black Hills Facebook and @blackhillsbadlands Instagram pages have respectively grown by 54,001 and 4,196 followers since Jan. 1, 2016.

For more information on the BH Tourism Index and/or its calculation, please contact BH&B's Vice President of Marketing, Mike Gussiaas, by emailing mike@blackhillsbadlands.com or calling (605) 355-3600.