By Barbara Soderlin

Bill Honerkamp, the longtime Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Association president and CEO, will retire next October after 29 years with the association, he said Friday, but not before he kicks off a major rebranding campaign for the region’s tourism industry.
“The Great American Road Trip” was a brand recommended by tourism consultant Roger Brooks in his report last year to the local tourism and economic development industry. It will play up several of the region’s strengths, Honerkamp said.
“We know that the Black Hills flourishes on the rubber-tire market,” he said, in an interview following the annual meeting of the association Friday at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn. “People make road trips to the Black Hills.”
Second, he said, the Hills are known as a family-friendly destination, and finally the “road trip” is a fun part of the American lexicon that can be positively associated with travel in this region.
The brand and logo will be available for use by the region’s attractions and visitors bureaus.
“It will become essentially our signature,” he said.

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