The Visitor Beat

Welcome to The Visitor Beat, the monthly newsletter of Experience Sioux Falls. Stay up-to-date on what's going on locally in the travel industry, as well as what's trending nationally.

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2025 Official Sioux Falls Visitor Guide Out Now

The 2025 Official Sioux Falls Visitor Guide was released just a few days ago and Experience Sioux Falls could not be more excited to get this new publication out to everyone. The 2025 guide features several two-page spreads throughout using large imagery showcasing many of the wonderful places in Sioux Falls. Send this guide to friends and family who may visit or use it yourself to find some new and perhaps forgotten favorites to add to your list of things to do and see in the city. View the digital copy on-demand or request a paper copy to be mailed to you. This is the only visitor guide that Experience Sioux Falls distributes.

The 2025 Official Sioux Falls Visitor Guide was published by Madden Media, which has an extensive history of producing award-winning guides for destinations around the country.

If you are a business that would like to have the 2025 Official Sioux Falls Visitor Guide in a display rack year-round, please contact Experience Sioux Falls Host City Manager, Zane Lodmell.

New City Bus Wrap

Keep an eye out for a city bus sporting a fresh, creative wrap! Experience Sioux Falls has featured a bus wrap for several years, and it has recently been updated with a bold new design. The updated wrap showcases a vibrant color palette and an abstract interpretation of Falls Park. The new-look bus, which will be running on a variety of routes throughout the city, is specifically designed to welcome people to Sioux Falls.

2024 Sioux Falls Sourced Recap

Experience Sioux Falls (ESF) wrapped up the third year of its Sioux Falls Sourced promotion, which has been a very successful lead generation campaign that ESF can use to remarket to. This year’s campaign ran from April through December, which consisted of four phases with 60 boxes of local products sent to people around the country during each phase.

The 2024 campaign resulted in nearly 28,500 people entering to win a Sourced box just under 59,000 total times throughout the year. The campaign targeted both leisure travelers and professional planners, with boxes being sent to winners in 41 states.

New Online Customer Service Training Program

Whether you have new employees or simply want to refresh your Sioux Falls knowledge and customer service skills, Experience Sioux Falls’ (ESF) online training program is a valuable resource for both. The goal of this training program is to inform and educate frontline visitor industry workers so that they know how to properly handle difficult situations when dealing with customers, and also so that they can offer suggestions of the many different things to do in our city when asked by visitors. However, ESF encourages everyone to take part in this quick and fun training program.

The online training program consists of two different 10 question quizzes: a customer service quiz and a Sioux Falls attractions quiz. Users who receive a passing score are eligible to receive a free Sioux Falls t-shirt!

Sioux Falls to Be Represented at Connect North

Experience Sioux Falls (ESF) Director of Sales, Allyson Kasch, and Sales Manager, Jessica Pappas, will be traveling to Kansas City later this month to attend Connect North, where they will be meeting with event planners from the Midwest and northern parts of the country in one-on-one appointments. The request window for appointments will be opening soon, and ESF is hoping to meet with a mix of both new prospects and repeat clients.

Connect is known in the visitor industry as a premier organization that hosts a variety of events throughout the year bringing together destination representatives and event planners.

Tourism Coalition of South Dakota Raffle Items

During the South Dakota Governor’s Conference on Tourism next week in Pierre, the Tourism Coalition of South Dakota (formerly known as the South Dakota Visitor Industry Alliance) will have raffle items with proceeds benefitting the organization, which is the statewide advocate for the visitor industry. Experience Sioux Falls (ESF) is putting together a collection of items for the raffle, so if you are interested in donating a hotel stay, attraction passes, gift cards, merchandise, or anything else, please contact ESF Sales Manager, Jackie Wentworth. Thanks to generous partners, last year’s Sioux Falls package had a value of $2,400!

The Appeal of Emerging Travel Trends for 2025

Future Partners conducted a survey of over 4,000 American travelers to ask them about the appeal of 10 travel trends that have emerged recently. Below is a summary of the responses.

• Slowcations
  (Leisurely and immersive travel, focusing on quality over quantity. It encourages deep connection with a destination by spending more time there, engaging with the local culture, environment, and community): The most popular of the trends tested, 57% of American travelers find Slowcations appealing. Don’t let the word “slow” mislead you. Slowcation enthusiasts are active travelers with diverse interests. Compared to other travelers they are significantly more likely to participate in more activities while traveling than other segments.
• Skillcations
  (A type of travel experience where individuals take a vacation to learn or improve a specific skill. Skillcations typically include hands-on workshops, classes, or immersive experiences in areas of the traveler's interest): 39% of American travelers find Slowcations appealing. While being a smaller segment, skillcation enthusiasts do have much higher-than-average annual travel budgets, at nearly $7,000.
• Experiential Travel
  (Participating in immersive, hands-on experiences that connect you with a destination's culture, history, or environment): 56% of American travelers find Experiential Travel appealing. Experiential trip enthusiasts’ top personal passions are food and cuisine, historical attractions and outdoor experiences. Also, when developing and promoting experiential product concepts, keep in mind that travelers’ top priority this year is spending time with friends and family.
• Plan-Free Travel
  (Embracing spontaneity by minimizing pre-planned itineraries, allowing for more flexible and unstructured experiences): 48% of American travelers find Plan-Free Travel appealing. One segment that appears highly attracted to plan-free travel is parents of school-aged children, specifically those with younger children.