Presented to
Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau

Governor Dennis Daugaard and Secretary Jim Hagen present
the inaugural Excellence in Tourism Innovation Award to
staff of the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau
at the 2013 Governor's Conference on Tourism.

downloadable, hi-res version of this photo (300 dpi)

The Excellence in Tourism Innovation Award is presented to a member of the South Dakota visitor industry for thinking “outside the box” when it comes to promoting their business, organization, or destination. The Department of Tourism will nominate an industry partner when it wants to honor them for their innovative thinking in marketing or special promotion.

The Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau is the inaugural recipient of the award for their Rushmore Mascots marketing efforts. They definitely went out of the box with this idea to promote Mount Rushmore to our Colorado audience.

The Rapid City CVB Rocked the Rockies when they took Mount Rushmore off the mountain and brought the four Presidential mascots to the streets of Denver.

And they got people talking.

In fact, the idea was so great that the Department of Tourism decided to copy it—with permission.

“Thanks to the CVB’s creative thinking, they were able to bring South Dakota to the visitor, promoting travel to South Dakota across the United States,” Governor Daugaard said.