Judi Falsnes co-owns Arctic Chalet Ltd., which offers cabins for accommodations and dog sledding outside Inuvik. The high cost of travel is hampering tourism in the area.JOHN LEHMANN/The Globe and Mail
As interest in Canada's North surged, the Northwest Territories set itself a new goal: become a tourist destination.
The opportunities were clear. The territory boasts rich wildlife such as polar bears and caribou, pristine snowmobile tracks and 24-hour summer sun.
"There's a lot of potential up here," said Lisa Tesar, who runs a campground and organizes a summer festival in Yellowknife.
The territory's "Tourism 2010" plan started five years ago. Since then, it has included advertising (typically with photos of the Northern Lights), training and some new infrastructure projects - such as a welcome centre at the Alberta boundary that hands out kitschy "North of 60" certificates - all at a cost of $5-million.
While the government says there has been a 14-per-cent spike in tourist spending over that period, many local operators say they haven't noticed a difference, as the industry has been hampered by global recession and a reduction in hunting tags, especially for caribou.
"We haven't seen any increase, substantial increase, in tourism up here," Ms. Tesar said, adding many of those who do come are disappointed. "Generally speaking, they're not happy. A lot of people sadly stay here two nights, and that's it."
This fall, however, the NWT Legislature may renew its effort. It will consider approving "Tourism 2015," another five-year plan that would continue to provide extra funding for tourism marketing. But with Yukon pouring millions more into its own advertising ($4.1-million this year in North American ads alone) and few connections that actually bring people into the NWT, legislators will have to consider a shift in strategy.
The territory acknowledges the mixed results, but believes the program is worthwhile. Tourism in 2004-2005 amounted to $114-million annually. It hit a high of $140-million since then, before the worldwide economic downturn pulled it back to $130-million in 2008-2009.
"Generally, we're fairly satisfied with the results in some areas. Some areas, we've faced some setbacks," said Richard Zieba, tourism and parks director at the NWT Ministry of Infrastructure, Tourism and Investment, a ministry that has a total budget of $11-million. "[The extra Tourism 2010 cash]provides the funding that we can actually go out and deliver programs with."
The fledgling NWT tourism industry has two major challenges. One comes in the form of Alaska and Yukon, two rivals that have more direct flights and bigger advertising budgets. Another is the NWT's sheer vastness - it's four times the size of the United Kingdom. Only in the past decades have major airlines added regular flights into Yellowknife. Other outposts, such as Inuvik in the Far North, have little air service and are accessible by roads that go through Yukon, a tourism rival.
As such, many of its programs are focused on Yellowknife, which sits on the shores of Great Slave Lake along the NWT's south.
"A lot of [funding]gets pointed at Yellowknife, and not so much Inuvik," said Kyle Kisoum-Taylor, 25, owner of Up North Tours in Inuvik. The high cost of travel leaves tourists looking for cost-effective options, he said.
"I think it's just a matter of trying to find affordable solutions for people to see these things," he said. "Tourism is a great opportunity, just because of where we are. It's untouched, and people want to come here."
Although the lion's share of visitors to the NWT are domestic (about 70 per cent, on par with other provinces in Canada), the territory has identified international tourists as its growth market. Japanese and German tourists already come in droves; China, India and Brazil are seen as expanding markets, Mr. Zieba said.
Those are good markets to target, said David Goldstein, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. "Getting Canadians to experience the North is important," he said. "Getting the world to experience the North is, frankly, more lucrative, and probably in the long run a more sustainable model because that's where the growth lines are. If I was the premier of the NWT or the Yukon, I would see that as a very interesting economic development model."
To do so, the NWT should spend as much as it can, he said. Although $1-million a year is significant for a territory of 43,000 people whose resource wealth goes straight to Ottawa, it pales in comparison with the $13-million that, for instance, Newfoundland and Labrador will spend promoting its tourism industry this year. The NWT is also awaiting figures on how this year, which saw a rebound in Japanese and European tourism, will turn out.
A spokesman for Premier Floyd Roland said the "Tourism 2015" proposal and business plan will likely be presented to the legislature this fall. Ms. Tesar said interpretive programs tailored to the history of the North would be a good place to begin; Mr. Kisoum-Taylor said he'd start one of his own if the government shared the liability, should it fail. But the region continues its years-long search for life as a tourist destination.
"There's some brilliant people up here," Ms. Tesar said. "I think it will happen. But baby steps, right?"