Mitchell businessman Roger Musick is disputing state numbers regarding tourism’s economic impact to the Mitchell area.
Musick told the city council his son developed a separate computer program to break down the totals and came up with much lower tourism revenue from the summer months that was more like $9-million dollars compared to the state’s number of $114-million dollars.
Musick says the state considers a tourist as someone who travels more than fifty miles to Mitchell or stays overnight.
“I don’t think any of us count that as tourist,” said Musick. “We count that as regional visitors.” He added, “Hell, there’s people in South Dakota that go more than fifty-miles to school.”
Musick also pointed out how much more revenue produced by higher paying jobs in technology, construction and healthcare contributes to the community compared to tourism.
He asked the city council to keep his numbers in mind when prioritizing spending.