Hello Members,
Firstly, I hope you are all well. I know this is a difficult time for many of you. Many of our members have been evacuated from their homes, and even those that have not, have been experiencing disruptions to their businesses. The wildfire situation has impacted the majority of our businesses and our residents both financially and emotionally; please know that our thoughts are with all of you, and we are here to support you in any way we can. Our staff are all evacuated out of Yellowknife and are safely situated and ready to assist our members as best we can. We are working hard on getting positive messaging out there for the NWT, as we know the media coverage about the fires has been having a negative impact on your businesses globally.
Please note: If you still have current guests or staff in the NWT and they are scheduled to leave the NWT through Yellowknife and are affected by the evacuation of Yellowknife, please contact me immediately to help assist with logistics of transportation south.
In the coming days we will be sending out a survey to our members; this survey will help assess the financial impact to our industry and will be the basis for the request to the different levels of government for funding supports. The GNWT has announced a program to provide some operational support to the business community through the SEED fund to allow for contributions of up to $5,000 to offset operational costs incurred by wildfire-affected businesses. This support is a temporary addition to the SEED fund and it will be accessible until March 31, 2024. Please note that the GNWT are in the process of updating the website to add the criteria and application forms for this specific program, which should be available soon. However, please note we have been in talks with our partners at GNWT-ITI to see what tourism specific funding supports would look like. When you receive the link for the survey, please take a minute to fill it out as it will be critical to have this information while speaking with the government.
Linked below are some resources you or your guests may need:
Declaration of State of Emergency - press release also attached.
Non-Essential travel into the NWT: The Government of the Northwest Territories state "Please be advised that due to the current wildfire situation in the NWT, we are asking that non-essential travel to or through the NWT be avoided at this time. Residents of communities and areas currently under evacuation order to not return home. This includes Hay River Katlodeeche First Nation Reserve, Fort Smith, Enterprise, Jean Marie River, Yellowknife, N'dilo and Dettah, and the Ingraham Trail."
Evacuation Order - North Slave
Evacuation Order - South Slave
Airline contacts:
- WestJet
- Air Canada
- Canadian North: To support impacted travellers, they are offering flexible modifications and cancellations for all routes associated with Yellowknife and Hay River until Aug 28, 2023 with no additional fees. For assistance call 1-800-267-1247 or email contact@canadiannorth.com
- Air North
Information and fire updates:
Insurance may request the State of Emergency and Evacuation Order information. Please be sure to check into your personal insurance for mass evacuation coverage, as well as your business insurance for business interruption insurance.
Please note that in the coming weeks you will be receiving more member communications on the upcoming NWT Tourism Board of Directors election.
As always, NWT Tourism is here to support you. Please let me know what we can do to help and if you have any questions please call or text me, 867-876-1200, I will do my best to respond quickly.
Please continue to monitor your email for upcoming member communications, as we will update you as more information comes available.
All the best to all of you,
Donna Lee Demarcke
Chief Executive Officer
NWT Tourism