Visit Rapid City Shares 2024 Economic Impact Numbers from Travel and Tourism
Visit Rapid City is delighted to share that the travel and tourism industry continues to play a key role in the city’s economy, with 3.9 million visitors coming to Rapid in 2024.
Travel plays an important role in the U.S., South Dakota and Rapid City, with major contributions to the economy.
Key statistics for Rapid City from 2024 include:
- Rapid City welcomed 3.9 million visitors (up from 3.8 million in 2023; an additional 100,000 visitors)
- In Rapid City, visitors spent $504 million (up from $479 million in 2023; an increase of 2.4%)
- Visitor spending generated $762 million in total business sales (up from $727 million in 2023)
- Tourism supported 7,613 total jobs (up from 7,452 in 2023)
- Visitor spending supported 1 in 10 jobs in Rapid City (including 2,270 jobs in the food and beverage industry)
- Visitors to Rapid City generated nearly $53.7 million in state and local taxes
- In Rapid City, visitors spent the most money on food and beverage ($150 million), lodging ($142 million), retail ($88 million), transportation ($77 million) and recreation ($47 million)
- There was a slight increase in day trips, while overnight visitors contributed 76.6% of total spending
- In Rapid City, the tourism economy generated $113 million in government revenues; without this tax generation, each household in Rapid City would pay an additional $1,681 to replace visitor-generated taxes
“While we saw a slight increase in total number of visitors, our visitor spending was up $25 million dollars,” said Brook Kaufman, CEO of Visit Rapid City. “This data shows that our visitors are spending more than ever in local Rapid City businesses, having a direct impact on our economy and on the employees who not only work in travel and tourism, but who hang their hats here in Rapid.”
Visit Rapid City markets and promotes Rapid City through a variety of strategic efforts, including paid advertising, social media, website, content marketing, newsletters, meetings + conventions, sporting events, public relations and more.
Learn more about Visit Rapid City at VisitRapidCity.com.
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About Visit Rapid City:
Visit Rapid City is the official marketing organization for Rapid City and promotes leisure travel, meetings and conventions, and sporting events to Rapid City and the Black Hills area. More information can be found at VisitRapidCity.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest or discover images and content with #VisitRapidCity.
Visit Rapid City Media Contact:
Tia Troy
tia@lightningbugpublicrelations.com
406.529.8314