George Kotti, Executive Director

Busy Summer Features Rising Tourism and ChamberSupport for Projects

When you ask someone if they are busy, have you ever heard anyone say, “No, I’m not busy; I’ve just been loafing around?” Well, it has been a busy summer here at the chamber. We can truly say we’ve been busy on several important fronts.

First of all, there has been the normal activity associated with getting visitors here to Hot Springs and keeping them here longer. So far, things are looking good for the summer. Our marketing leads have increased by well over a thousand more than 2009, and the visitor count at our visitor centers is up three percent over 2009. Anecdotally, our member businesses say that they are having a good summer. This is quite significant because 2009 was such a banner year for Hot Springs.

We are going through Southern Hills Vacation Guides, Hot Springs Vacation Guides and Directories, City Maps and rack cards at a rapid rate. Both the Black Hills Badlands and Lakes Visitor Center and our state rest area visitor centers continue to keep asking for our stuff. The word is getting out there, and people are coming our way.

In addition to tourism, the chamber has been working on several important issues for Hot Springs and our local community. First, as a chamber, we actively supported the SD Game, Fish and Parks acquisition of the Hill Brothers’ ranch properties as a game production area. We firmly believe the added recreational and hunting opportunities this will bring to Fall River County will be a definite economic benefit to Hot Springs. We plan to continue to dialog with the state to insure the property is developed to its maximum potential. One of our local real estate agents commented on how interest has peaked concerning land near the proposed purchase, so it is already making a noticeable impact.

The chamber also is actively involved in working with the community to keep the State Veteran’s Home here in Hot Springs. At the direction of the Board of Directors, I hand carried a letter to Governor Rounds stating we believe the best place for the home is here in Hot Springs. We believe we have a solid foundation for arguing against moving the home to another location. The residents like Hot Springs and the care that they receive and the community support is second to none. Where Governor Rounds made no specific promises, he praised Hot Springs for the support we give the home. I believe we have an excellent chance of insuring the home stays here, but we must keep our eye on this ball in the future.

One of our members suggested a plan for generating interest in and filling our downtown sandstone buildings. The Economic Development Committee is looking at getting the property owners of the vacant buildings together to determine if there is any interest in leasing their buildings out during the summer months to “destination retail” type businesses. The chamber would contact these types of businesses in other locations in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana and determine if they would like to set up a satellite operation here in Hot Springs. We do not know how this will work, but it seems that our empty buildings will never fill if we as a community do nothing.

Another promising activity that we are not directly involved with as a chamber, but one we totally support, is the upgrade of Fall River as it flows through town. Mayor DeVries has appointed a committee to study how we can make our greatest asset, warm water, more of an attraction. I understand that the committee is coming up with some very practical ideas that will benefit our downtown area. Imagine what downtown Hot Springs could become with a wide variety of shops and a river in which people can play.

So, yes it has been a busy summer for the chamber, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Being busy on many fronts is helping us to insure that the best is yet to come for us all.