WHITEHORSE (September 17, 2013) – Improving visitor access, marketing and tourism attraction development were central themes discussed at the Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers’ Meeting last week.

Federal, provincial and territorial tourism ministers met in in Whitehorse from September 11-13 to discuss the impact that international growth markets are having on Canada's tourism sector and share perspectives on strategies for capitalizing on opportunities in global tourism.

“We can learn a lot from our counterparts across Canada on the best ways to keep the Northwest Territories competitive in a global tourism market,” said Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment David Ramsay. “We discussed everything from improving air access to the NWT, visa requirements, cost of air travel to and within Canada, making the most of marketing dollars, and developing tourism products.”

Minister Ramsay gave a presentation on Aboriginal Tourism. “Growing the Aboriginal tourism sector in the NWT is one of our main goals, so these discussions on how to grow this industry were particularly important to me.”

Over the course of the conference, Minister Ramsay and representatives from NWT Tourism met with the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Tourism Commission to discuss the best ways to obtain more marketing support to promote the NWT in Japan and China – which are both international target markets for the territory.

By exploring options to attract more visitors to the NWT and the best ways to provide support for local tourism operators, the GNWT is taking steps to strengthen and diversify the economy – a key priority of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

For more information contact:

Alayna Ward
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Industry, Tourism and Investment
Government of the Northwest Territories
Tel: (867) 920-8696
Email: alayna_ward@gov.nt.ca