GNWT-ITI and CanNor increase investments in Northwest Territories Tourism  

Dear Members,

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am delighted to share some great news. The GNWT Department of Industry Tourism & Investment has increased funding for NWT Tourism by $800,000.00 as part of its 2019/20 budget approved earlier this spring in the Legislative Assembly and today the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) announced $1.564 million in funding for NWT Tourism.

The GNWT-ITI funding increase will support the implementation of one major campaign each year, augmenting our ongoing all-year round digital marketing initiatives. This new funding injection will enhance tourism marketing for the territory as a spectacular travel destination primarily within North America. This newly funded initiative is now in place for the next three years, subject of course to the annual Legislative Assembly budget approval process.

The CanNor funding is targeted at a variety of projects that NWT Tourism proposed in 2018. It includes increased activities in targeted international markets, undertaking market research in our key Canadian target markets, and implementation of a variety of enhanced advertising activities to boost our presence across a variety of marketing platforms. 

The Board would like to express our gratitude to all of you for your support of this organization and especially to those who have been actively advocating to our funding partner(s) for increased investments in tourism marketing. This includes all of you who took the time to fill out the membership survey last year, identifying this as a top priority for our industry. All of your efforts have contributed to our discussions with GNWT-ITI and have added support to our proposals submitted to CanNor for additional funding.

The Board would especially like to thank Cathie Bolstad, CEO of NWT Tourism, for tirelessly pursuing these funding opportunities, and working hard to advance the organization and our industry. We would also like to acknowledge the great work and dedication of our small team of staff at NWT Tourism who work professionally and hard as they strive to market our spectacular tourism opportunities across a very competitive global marketplace. 

On the federal front, there is also good news in the 2019 Federal Budget as it relates to tourism in Canada as shared by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) earlier this spring. There are a number of items in the 2019 federal budget that are positive for tourism including showcasing Canada; addressing access barriers; and finding industry labour solutions. You can read the entire TIAC release by clicking here.

We will continue to keep you informed regarding NWT Tourism's marketing activities in the months ahead and we encourage you to visit our members’ section of the website at https://members.spectacularnwt.com/ to keep on top of news for our membership. 

And finally, please be sure to mark your calendars so you can plan to attend our Annual Tourism Conference and AGM which are scheduled to take place November 5-7, 2019 in Yellowknife. There you will hear more updates and see examples of the work that we are doing to market this spectacular destination and to advance winning conditions for our industry.

Regards,

Susan Wright
Chair, NWT Tourism Board of Directors
susan.wright@north-wrightairways.com