Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at Mount Rushmore on Monday for National Travel & Tourism Week. She spoke a new initiative with the South Dakota Works website to address the need for seasonal employees. “We are starting a new initiative that’s going to partner businesses and our Department of Labor with our Department of Tourism to make sure that we are connecting people to the jobs that they can have right here in our beautiful state.”
Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at Mount Rushmore on Monday for National Travel & Tourism Week. During her speech, she talked optimistically about the number of tourists visiting the state. “While people came here in droves and set records last year, even more are going to be coming 2021. Our parks are setting records; our monuments are setting records; we are selling record numbers of hunting licenses, fishing licenses. People want to enjoy our outdoors.”
Gov. Kristi Noem told South Dakota’s tourism industry on Monday to gear up for a busy summer, as she expects an influx of visitors itching to travel after more than a year of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
During an event at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the Republican governor said there are many signs that tourism will make a big rebound.
Tourism spending dropped by 18% in 2020, but Noem said the state still welcomed many visitors. She drew widespread attention for forgoing virus restrictions and hosting a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore that featured former President Donald Trump. She also welcomed people to the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August.
“The tourism industry is so important to our entire state,” Noem said pointing to the tax revenue it brings in and the jobs it sustains.
The governor has initiated a legal battle with President Joe Biden’s administration over holding fireworks at the monument to celebrate Independence Day again. She successfully pushed last year for a revival of the pyrotechnic display after a decade-long hiatus, but the National Park Service denied the state’s application to hold the event again this summer due to safety concerns and objections from Native American tribes.
Noem’s tourism secretary, Jim Hagen, called the 2020 event “an economic lifeline” to the tourism industry in the court filing and argued that the proposed fireworks show this year would “provide critical income during a crucial” period for the state economy.
