Meet the Industry Outreach & Development Team

The Industry Outreach & Development team’s core function is to provide support and assistance to the communities and businesses within the tourism industry. This team can provide information about cooperative programs, marketing campaigns, consumer trends and marketing research. In addition, they are responsible for organizing industry outreach events and assisting communities with destination development initiatives within the four key niche areas of agri-tourism, sports tourism, outdoor adventure tourism and tribal tourism.

Industry Relations, Development & Research Team

The Industry Relations, Development & Research team is responsible for providing support and assistance to the communities and businesses within the South Dakota tourism industry. This team proactively travels the state to provide industry members with information about cooperative programs, marketing campaigns, consumer trends, marketing research and the latest updates from Travel South Dakota. They make it their goal to help industry members plug into the department as much as possible.

In addition, the team is responsible for organizing industry outreach events such as the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism. They assist communities with destination development initiatives. The team also oversees the state’s Interstate Welcome Centers and the hiring and training of the seasonal staff who work in them. Finally, the team is responsible for tracking and reporting travel indicators and also oversees the annual economic impact studies that demonstrate tourism’s impact on South Dakota’s economy.

Kirk Hulstein
Kirk Hulstein
Industry Relations, Development & Research Senior Director
  • Oversees destination development strategy
  • Manages various tourism industry grants
  • Directs research and reporting strategy
  • Oversees industry relations efforts

MEET KIRK >>

Kirk Hulstein
Industry Relations, Development & Research Senior Director
Photo of Calvin Bloemendaal
Calvin Bloemendaal
Research Manager
  • Development and management of Travel South Dakota's comprehensive research plan
  • Analyze digital and social media engagement, campaign KPI’s and website performance
  • Stay informed on emerging marketing trends, new technologies, and industry travel indicators
  • Management of the department's comprehensive research and data portfolio
  • Oversight of research vendor contracts
  • Development of custom research models to monitor progress of our strategic plan initiatives

MEET CALVIN >>

Calvin Bloemendaal
Research Manager
Ciara Forest
Ciara Forest
Destination Development Manager & Industry Liaison

MEET CIARA >>

Ciara Forest
Destination Development Manager & Industry Liaison