PIERRE, S.D. -- South Dakota state tourism director Billie Jo Waara said that tourists from selected states planning to travel through South Dakota this summer can get $20 vouchers to buy ethanol-blended fuels.
The state calls the promotion Twenty Bucks for the Road, a cooperative arrangement with the American Coalition for Ethanol and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, the groups that will foot the bill. Waara said it is a tool to entice cost-conscious travelers.
Eligible states include Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, [image-nocss] Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
Travelers must visit a website and sign up by the end of August to get the voucher. After they drive into South Dakota, they can redeem the vouchers at participating stations, which will mark their gasoline pumps with new ethanol signs that say, Fill up, feel good.
Ron Lamberty of the American Coalition for Ethanol said it is part of an attempt to jazz up the product. It's a promotion. We're trying to brand ethanol nationally, he said. Our image is being attached to South Dakota's image.
Tourism officials said they already have received more than 10,000 requests for vouchers.
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