The City of Yellowknife says it’s developing a new tourism strategic plan, a successor to one that expired four years ago.
In a press release on Thursday, the city said residents can expect consultation on the new plan to begin later this year. The final plan is expected to be complete by the fall.
Yellowknife’s 2015-2019 tourism strategy was not immediately replaced when it ended. The city says Covid-19’s impacts were already starting to be felt as that strategy expired, and the subsequent two-year hit to the tourism industry “necessitates some changes in tourism marketing methods and strategies” as the sector recovers.
The old strategy, adopted in 2014, called for the city to establish a destination management organization, pursue a seat on NWT Tourism’s board of directors, introduce a hotel tax, hire its own meetings and marketing coordinator, and “engage local First Nations in tourism” among other actions.
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InterVistas Consulting will develop the new plan using funding from the NWT government.
“Prior to Covid-19, tourism was one of the fastest growing sectors of the Yellowknife economy,” the city stated.
“There are hundreds of local jobs in tourism and scores of local businesses that couldn’t exist without tourists.
“The new tourism strategy will provide a post-Covid outlook for Yellowknife and the surrounding area and establish a vision for the future.”
