Hill City Ambassador Program coming soon

How often do you talk to tourists, answer questions and point them in the right direction for their next adventure? 

Now through the Hill City Ambassador Program (HCAP) a group of volunteers will be on the streets of Hill City to do just that. 

This program was spearheaded by alderwoman Lori Miner. 

“Back in 2017 shortly after we moved here I was in a downtown shop book shopping, and a tourist came in and asked the person behind the counter, ‘Can you tell me where the grocery store is?’ And the salesperson replied, ‘I don’t know. I don’t live here.’ So I spoke up and directed this person to the store,” said Miner. 

Ever since then, Miner has watched for confused visitors and tried to help them find their way around. She has helped people find restaurants or stores and answer questions about life in the Black Hills. 

As someone who spends “a great deal of time” downtown, Miner said, “I’m always answering those kinds of questions.” 

While at a Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce Mixer this year, Miner said, “I happened to be talking to Kendra (Heeb) from the Handbag Store, and I said, ‘I’ve had this idea.’” 

Heeb asked Miner to share her idea for the HCAP with the chamber, and Miner said, “They liked it and asked me to spearhead it.” 

For the HCAP, Miner and six other volunteers will walk around downtown Hill City and interact with tourists. In this role, they will welcome visitors, ask how they are doing, be friendly, answer questions, take pictures and more. 

“We’ll just be on our own schedule, one or two hours a week,” said Miner. 

Volunteers will have T-shirts provided by the chamber to identify them as ambassadors. 

“I’ve read a lot about tourism, and lately people want experiences. And part of what some people want is to talk to locals,” Miner said. 

In forming the program, chamber executive director Janet Wetovick-Bily said, “The chamber researched various programs, including the newly-established Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) Program offered through Visit Rapid City and Rapid City’s ‘Downtown Ambassador’ program. We’re basing our program on tenets of the visitor experience and the value of tourism to Hill City.” 

As part of this, four chamber and Visitor Information Center (VIC) team members recently went through a certification for a CTA designation. 

“We can now add CTA behind our names, which is an internationally-recognized designation. All frontline employees and everyone in tourism and hospitality is encouraged to get that valuable designation,” said Wetovick-Bily. 

HCAP volunteers will be encouraged to go into the businesses on Main Street, learn what they have to offer and meet the owners and staff members. That way when visitors ask where to find something, ambassadors can present them with all the options. 

“I’m hoping we can all work together for the better of the community,” said Miner. “I know staff are busy in all the stores so sometimes they don’t have time to answer questions about, ‘Where can I find this?’ So that’s what we could do.” 

The goal of the ambassadors will be to have fun, engage with tourists and direct people to what they are trying to find. 

“I think it opens up a lot of opportunities for us to enhance the experience for our tourists here. I think it will be very helpful in downtown,” said Miner. “We’re not replacing the staff or the services of the VIC. We’re just, as I see it, strictly to help the people as they are downtown. If they have more detailed questions, we’ll certainly refer them to the VIC, where they’ve got all the literature.” 

Adding to this Wetovick-Bily said, “Our HCAP affirms what we already do and promote at the chamber and VIC. It is an extension of our work by these awesome local volunteers. We want visitors to have a fabulous experience of Hill City, and our ambassadors will help our guests do just that by providing helpful and warm hospitality. It’s about engaging with our visitors and helping them to have the best possible experience of Hill City and our area.” 

Miner and Wetovick-Bily provided the volunteers with a brief training this week to get started. 

“I’m excited to get other people involved in the community and get them involved in tourism. Tourism and the revenue that it brings in is such a big part of city dollars and how we can run our city. So I believe it is important to engage everyone,” said Miner. 

Miner said visitors often post their vacation pictures on social media. These then get shared, and it essentially serves as another means of advertising the community. 

“It benefits Hill City if we can be a friendly community,” said Miner “We have a lot to offer, and we just need to make sure that we show ourselves as a bright spot.”

Through the HCAP, Wetovick-Bily said, “We’ll gain valuable feedback about how we can improve the visitor experience and the chamber is happy to provide resources that will make the program successful.”  

“I just think our downtown is vibrant, and there’s a lot going on,” said Miner. “There’s an enormous opportunity to get involved and just meet people. And if that’s something you want to do, hang out downtown. It’s a fun place to be.” 

For more information or to be a part of the program, contact the chamber at 605-574-2368 or director@hill

citysd.com.