Remote Tourism Activities to be allowed in 2021 under certain conditions

Dear Members,

We are very pleased to be sharing some news with you today. Through the hard work of our Board of Directors along with myself, and with the constant work and support from the Covid Secretariat, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer is allowing remote tourism activities to resume in the Northwest Territories for the summer season in 2021 under certain conditions. This is an important first step in the restart of tourism in the NWT.

The NWT Tourism Association has developed a set of management practices for remote tourism operators for the summer season. These practices are designed to keep residents in the NWT safe, while allowing remote tourism activities to resume.

Remote Tourism Operator definition
A remote tourism operator is one who holds a Tourism Operator Licences and is able to provide a fully self-contained tour experience, where clients, staff and workers do not have to rely on commercial accommodation or food services within an NWT community, with the exception of while in transit.

• Scheduled overnight layovers that are necessary for clients in transit to remote tourism sites must take place in Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Norman Wells only, and must adhere to existing self isolation protocols while in these communities. 

Conditions for the resumption of remote tourism operations
At a very high level, here are some important details on the conditions under which some tourism-related activities can resume:

• Operators will need to submit a COVID-19 Operations Plan to the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer to be granted authorization to host out of territory clients at remote sites in the NWT
• The plan must demonstrate the tourism operation can carry out its business without introducing contact between travellers and NWT residents who are not employees of the tourism operator

The Operations Plan
The operations plan is a critical component of this initiative. We have worked with the Covid Secretariat to develop a template for the plan, which has been seen by the CPHO. Each tourism operator must submit an individual plan for approval from the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer.

The operations plan template can be found on the COVID Secretariat Website click here.
 

We also are working on templates for a variety of components that must be included in the plan. We will send the templates for different things required in the operations plan in a separate email.

The plan must show how the remote tourism operator will reduce the risk of Covid-19 being introduced and transmitted within the NWT. Here are some of the details the operations plan will capture:

• Transportation of workers and clients in and out of remote locations.
• Managing COVID-19 related illness in a remote setting.
• Medical extraction and medical capacity on site.
• On-site isolation, support and/or care for staff and clients should the need arise.
• Other mitigation plans for COVID-19 related arising risks.
• Supporting and ensuring client compliance with existing public health measures.

While the resumption of tourism activities for the 2021 season only applies to remote tourism operations, we are greatly encouraged that some tourism can occur in the summer of 2021. We know that this news will only apply to a minority of tourism operators in the NWT. That being said, we are greatly encouraged in the work that has been done by the Covid Secretariat and our GNWT-ITI partners to allow some tourism to resume, while protecting the health and safety of residents in the NWT. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that the remainder of our industry is able to recover and resume operations as soon as it is safe to do so.

Donna Lee Demarcke
CEO, NWT Tourism
executive@spectacularnwt.com
867-873-5007 Ext: 1005