Rising fuel prices prompted state tourism officials to do more of their marketing for potential visitors in the neighborhood.

"It's based on … research that shows our travelers are already coming from neighboring states - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado and Wyoming, for example," said Wanda Goodman, with the state Office of Tourism.

Even with high fuel prices, there is reason to believe people are going to continue to travel, she added.

"What we're seeing through several studies is, people look at travel and vacations as a birthright. They're not necessarily going to give that up even though gas prices are high," Goodman said. "We're seeing that maybe they're going to take a shorter vacation or maybe they're going to stay closer to home."

She said there are optimistic signs about South Dakota's prospects this year.

Overall inquiries at the Office of Tourism are up almost 13 percent compared to last year. International inquiries are up about 10 percent and Canadian inquiries are up approximately 8 percent. Traffic on the office's Web site is also up.

Organizers of Yankton's largest summertime celebration, Riverboat Days, believe the high gas prices may boost attendance at this year's 25th anniversary event in August.

"My feeling is that it is going to increase the attendance at our celebration," said Pauline Rhoades, chairperson of the Riverboat Days Committee. "There will be more people within a 100-mile radius that will be coming that, in previous years, maybe had other plans or went further away."

The committee has decided to focus its marketing efforts a little closer to home this year and put less emphasis on places like southwest Minnesota, she explained.

"We may try some of that again, but I think we're going to hit people that would do one-day trips - like coming up from Omaha (Neb.) or the Norfolk (Neb.) area," Rhoades said. "I think it's to our advantage."