STURGIS, S.D. – The annual post-rally summit was held in Sturgis today at the Sturgis Community Center.
A panel of speakers discussed the impact the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has on the state, region and city.
Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie says this year’s rally was the first under the city’s new branding and this summit is a great opportunity for people to come up with ideas to make the rally better.
“What really comes from this is an opportunity for people to come up with a lot of great ideas we can hopefully implement in the next year, because, without a doubt, this is one of the largest tourism events that occurs here.”
Estimated attendance for this year’s rally was over 555,000 and the increase in spending in 2021 came with a 29% increase in vendors doing business in the Black Hills during the rally. According to the revenue department, 1,014 temporary vendors were licensed, compared to 784 in 2020. This year’s rally brought in $1.75 million in tax revenue.
Mike Gussiaas with the Marketing team of the South Dakota Department of Tourism says while the Rally is internationally known, its pull and impact are largely local and regional.
“The Rally is internationally known, and people do travel from around the world to get here. But, the full impact is really regional.”
Still, he says the national trend for this year’s rally was a little bit different in that we saw more motorcycle enthusiasts from states like Ohio, North and South Carolina and Georgia along with the states that are heavily represented like Minnesota, Iowa and Wyoming.
Some of the trends from this year’s rally include more women riders and an increased use of social media by rally-goers and rally organizers.
The summit also updated the latest demographics of rally-goers and the amount of money coming back to Sturgis from this year’s events.
