Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week in the community of Inuvik, over 20 different stakeholders including businesses, tour operators and local governments from the Beaufort-Delta region came together to discuss possibilities and opportunities for increased and diversified tourism products and experiences for the region as a way to supplement the challenging economy in the area.
The group was very pleased with the support from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment as well as Northwest Territories Tourism, who partnered to provide an all-day interactive training workshop for participants. The group is also very grateful for their ongoing support of this important sector of the NWT territorial economy.
With attendees from Fort McPherson, Inuvik, Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk, the group spent the day learning about tourism trends, marketing, pricing and packaging of tourism-related products and experiences. The goal of the meeting was to come together to create a market-ready package tourism experience that would incorporate tourism experiences such as dog sledding excursions, snowmobile adventures and ice show tours with varied accommodation options such as bed and breakfasts, cabins and hotels.
Attendees agreed that the session was worthwhile and was an important step to bringing more tourism dollars into the communities, especially during the winter months and the shouldering seasons when there’s less tourism economy in the area. All stakeholders are very pleased and ready to showcase the great many opportunities for culture, touring and adventure opportunities in Inuvik and the Western Arctic region. A follow-up meeting is planned to solidify the market-ready tourism packages initiated during this very important event.
As we know, the tourism industry has a return investment in the Northwest Territories of over $100 million, when this government itself does not put a whole lot of dollars into the tourism industry and the work that a lot of these groups do.
Later on today I will have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment to see how we can invest not only in Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region and all the great work that they’re doing, but in other regions across the Northwest Territories to help give a little boom to the economy that the regions do need, and some ideas that might arise from that.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
