A ‘Natural’ Choice for Meetings
Rapid City is a truly unique destination that radiates with natural beauty and offers a number of exciting resources for meeting and convention planners. Its prime location makes it both affordable and easily accessible for visitors traveling from anywhere across the U.S. Direct flights into Rapid City are serviced from Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Phoenix/Mesa and Salt Lake City.
Ask anyone who has been to Rapid City and they’ll rave about the area’s breathtaking surroundings. The city is surrounded by both South Dakota’s Black Hills and its massive ponderosa forest. And the area boasts the highest concentration of public parks, monuments and memorials in the world. Aside from a the stone faces of our past presidents carved into Mount Rushmore, there are numerous other notable sites and experiences, including the buffalo herds in Custer State Park, the million-year-old fossil beds in Badlands National Park and two of the longest caves in the world – Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park.
The fact that the area’s climate remains mild for a majority of the year means that outdoor activities from hiking to golfing are available throughout the year. The area also offers a variety of other outdoor adventures like biking, wildlife tours, horseback riding, skiing, amusement parks and cave tours. If your attendees are looking to be awestruck by nature’s majesty and would enjoy taking part in a number of exciting outdoor escapades, then Rapid City should be on your list of potential destinations.
Specifically, the Black Hills are home to Mount Rushmore, a perfect field trip for education-focused groups or those with historic interests. The four massive rock carvings of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln tower 6,000 feet above sea level and are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall, according to the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau.
If leisurely recreation is on your group docket, plan a day on the links at one of more than a dozen scenic golf courses in the area. The website www.golfblackhills.com outlines each course and gives useful contact/booking information. Some of the courses offer meeting facilities on site as well.
This area has long been a favorite reunion location for military groups. Rapid City has a strong military tradition with nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base, home to the 28th Bomb Wing and the B-1B Lancer aircraft. Visit the South Dakota Air & Space Museum to see examples of this aircraft and 52 others. Or schedule an outing to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, devoted to the history of the Cold War. Finally, the Black Hills National Cemetery provides a place of quiet reflection and gratitude for veterans and their families to visit.
In addition to the area’s picturesque surroundings, this destination boasts a wide range of modern amenities. From more than 5,100 hotel rooms to a number of unique, state-of-the-art meeting facilities, Rapid City can accommodate groups of every size. It can cater large size gatherings at the 175,000-square-foot Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, which seats approximately 10,000 visitors and can be configured for meetings, concerts, exhibits and conventions. Or, smaller groups can enjoy one of the area’s more intimate accommodations located near the city’s historic downtown, where two new hotels will open this year. Rapid City also has a number of superb dining options, boutique shops and stimulating museums in its downtown area, offering visitors the best of both worlds – the pleasures of the outdoors and the joys of city life.
With their warm Midwestern hospitality, the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau is happy to assist meeting and convention planners in organizing their events. If Rapid City sounds like the perfect location for your event, visit http://www.VisitRapidCity.com or contact Lisa Storms at the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-487-3223 x8487.
[ return to top ]
