Date
October
25
2004
Members Present
ITEM 1: PRAYER
Assembly Members
Debates of October 25, 2004 (day 27)
Topics
Statements
Minister’s Statement 67-15(3): Expo 2005
Brendan Bell
Yellowknife South
Mr. Speaker, Heritage Canada has invited the provinces and territories to participate at Expo 2005, to be held from March to September 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Aichi Prefecture is about an hour train ride west of Tokyo, near the city of Nagoya. The theme of Expo 2005 is Nature’s Wisdom.
Organizers anticipate that more than 15 million people will visit Expo 2005 over a six-month period and 1.5 million visitors are anticipated to visit the Canadian pavilion with some 90 percent of these visitors expected to be Japanese.
This exposition provides an excellent opportunity to market the Northwest Territories to key target audiences.
Over the past five years, the Japanese tourism market has grown substantially in the Northwest Territories. Last year alone, Mr. Speaker, Japanese tourists comprised approximately 24 percent of the total number of leisure tourists visiting the Northwest Territories and they contributed over $16 million to our economy.
Hear! Hear!
Brendan Bell
Yellowknife South
This season, Aurora viewing companies are expecting 11,000 visitors, a 10 percent increase over the number that visited last year.
Mr. Speaker, I will co-chair an oversight review committee with my colleague, the Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Jane Groenewegen, to oversee planning for the Northwest Territories participation at Expo 2005.
Currently, work is underway to prepare for our participation in this important event. We intend to highlight all aspects of the Northwest Territories, with specific focus on tourism, diamonds, culture and the arts. We are also very interested in working with private sector partners to market the Northwest Territories and its products. This provides an opportunity to enhance our presentation at Expo 2005 through the levering of partnership funding from the private sector.
I look forward to participating with Canada, our tourism industry and private sector partners in promoting the Northwest Territories as a prime international destination for tourism and business. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause