ABERDEEN, S.D. -- To bring tourism and economic development to the area, it's important that northern South Dakota promotes what it has, local officials said.
"People in Chicago and Minneapolis -- they want to come here," said Sid Schroeder, board member of the Northern Route to the Black Hills. "You can't see a sunset in Chicago. You can't see the stars. That's what we have to sell."
Northern Route to the Black Hills is trying to do just that.
Northern Route is a tourism and economic development initiative that encourages visitors to travel through northern South Dakota -- and a little bit of North Dakota -- on the way to or from the Black Hills. After starting about seven years ago, the idea is still growing, said Tom Aman, interim director.
Cities -- from Aberdeen, to Faith and even to Sturgis and Rapid City -- continue to sign on and reinvest in the initiative. Other tourism groups and partners have gotten involved as well.
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The idea isn't to take away from the tourism and economic development opportunities along more traveled routes, like the interstates. It's to share what the northern route has to offer, Aman said.
"We think the slower and friendlier route makes for the better route," he said.
At one time, Northern Route to the Black Hills had a full-time director and was housed in the downtown depot. But now the group takes a simpler approach, Aman said.
The goal is to produce a travel guide and distribute it all over the area, which the group has recently done. Northern Route to the Black Hills has also partnered with other groups, such as the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau, to attend travel shows to draw in visitors.
Aman said it seems to be working. While the Northern Route initiative can't take all the credit, tourism numbers across the area have grown over the past eight years, he said.
For example, Corson County saw a 41.2 percent in economic impact from 2002 to 2009, according to the Office of Tourism's annual report. Other counties, including Edmunds (22.1 percent) and Brown (12.6 percent), also saw a jump.
Aberdeen has also benefited, Aman said.
"I would venture to say that seven years ago when we started nobody talked about tourism in this town," he said.
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As the Northern Route to the Black Hills brand continues to grow, Schroeder hopes tourists keep talking. And that they keep coming back -- to the Aberdeen area, the rest of northern South Dakota and into the Black Hills.
"Let them spend a night here," he said. "Once they do, they'll be back."
