The Trump slump in Canadian tourism that has been hurting business in Minnesota and nationwide is manifesting itself in South Dakota, says the Sioux Falls visitors and convention bureau:
Teri Schmidt, the chief executive officer of Experience Sioux Falls, the city’s visitors and convention bureau, said at Tuesday’s city council informational meeting that the number of visitors from Canada is down.
Schmidt said in a KELOLAND interview on Wednesday that the organization tracks guests who voluntarily register at the visitors center at Falls Park. She said the recorded numbers are not an exact science but they are reliable indicators.
In 2025, 119 Canadian visitors registered during the summer season. This year, 72 have registered so far and Schmidt doesn’t believe those numbers will catch up to last year.
…The decline in Canadian visitors is mostly because of the political situation, Schmidt said. Regional and national tourism and visitor organizations are noting the decline and the reasons, she said [Rae Yost, “Canadians Say No to Sioux Falls This Year,” KELO-TV, updated 2026.09.03].
The same Falls Park data show other countries avoiding Trumpland as well:
The city is also seeing a general decline in all visitors from foreign countries. Schmidt said on Wednesday visitors from 64 countries registered at Falls Park last year. This year, it’s 54 countries [Yost, 2026.09.03].
That decrease in foreign fun-seekers continues the trend Trump triggered last year, when international visits to South Dakota decreased 6.8% from the good old Joe Biden days.