Welcoming Back Leisure Travel
With leisure travel resuming to the NWT as of March 1st, we now start the work to rebuild our industry. I am very grateful to the marketing team at NWT Tourism, our members, and our partners, that have done a great job of keeping the NWT alive in the dreams of future visitors.
March 1st was an important date for tourism. Not only did it allow for leisure travel to resume, but it also allows for the end of the Remote Tourism Operations Plan (RTOP). While we worked hard to have the RTOP implemented, as much as it was needed at the time, we are very happy that the requirements under the plan are no longer required.
With support from the GNWT-ITI we have been able to keep NWT Tourism’s Medical Director in place for the upcoming months. In transitioning to a less restricted territory for visitors, and in an effort to reduce the potential strain on the NWT’s medical system, we have been asked to retain the medical director. She will be available to all NWT Tourism members for any COVID related issues that may arise in your business. The NWT Tourism Medical Director should be your first point of contact for any COVID related issues. If you need the contact information for our medical director, please contact me.
SIP’s and the Emergency Health Orders
The next date that we are eagerly awaiting is March 31st, which is the anticipated end date of the Public Health Emergency orders. With the end of the Public Health Emergency orders, all the remaining restrictions, including the requirement to fill out Self Isolation Plans (SIPs) for ALL people travelling into the NWT will be removed. We anticipate that April 1st will be the day that all remaining barriers to leisure travel to the NWT will be gone. While we are very grateful for what our government leaders have done to keep our residents safe, for our businesses so deeply effected by the last two years, we are looking forward to the end of the Public Health Emergency Orders at the end of March.
Important Upcoming Survey
On Monday, March 7th, Leger will be contacting all of our members via email with an important survey. The survey is short, it should only take about 5 minutes to complete, but is very important to us, and our partners at GNWT, to better understand how COVID-19 has impacted you/your business and to also better understand how to provide support for businesses in welcoming back visitors again. The survey will only be open for a short time, Monday, March 7th to Tuesday, March 15th. Please take the time to fill out this important survey.
Safe Travel Stamp
I would like to remind all members about the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Global Protocols & Stamp program, you can find out more about the program here.
We encourage all members to have these protocols in place to allow travellers to recognize that you have adopted health and hygiene global standardized protocols – so consumers can experience 'Safe Travels'.
Airlines and Marketing
After ongoing dialogue with carriers that operate services in the NWT, we are happy that many air routes are coming back, and some new routes have even been added. For example:
Canadian North - Norman Wells will increase from 6 to 7 flights/week in April. Fort Simpson will go back to Mon-Fri daily flights as well as Sundays in April.
Air North – will resume it’s Yellowknife to Ottawa flights in May and has added a Yellowknife to Toronto flight that will start in May.
Air Canada - direct service from Edmonton and Vancouver will resume on June 1st. They are currently flying from Calgary and this service is planned to go to daily this month.
If you have specific markets, routes and airlines that you are curious about please reach out to me and we can discuss.
A reminder as members of NWT Tourism, you have a number of exclusive opportunities to leverage our marketing activities to the benefit of your business. Now that we are welcoming back visitors to the NWT, it might be a great time to take advantage of the co-op program. Details can be found here.
Exciting Contest
We are currently working with our partners at GNWT-ITI on the resident campaign to welcome back and encourage friends and family to come and visit the NWT. Watch for an exciting contest coming up where NWT residents will be encouraged to invite Canadians to the NWT with a chance to win a trip for family members or friends to come up and take in all that the Spectacular NWT has to offer.
GNWT Support
The GNWT – ITI has announced further increased supports for small and medium businesses across the Northwest Territories. Information on the program can be found here.
Sorry for the long update, it has been a very busy couple of weeks. It is an exciting time in the NWT and we look forward to building back our industry together with you, our members, and our partners. If you have any questions or would like to chat, please feel to reach out at any time.