Nunavik tour leaves UK travel industry visitors in awe
“A joy to discover”
“Splendid” and “brilliant” are among the superlatives used by a group of travel experts from the United Kingdom to describe their week-long stay in Nunavik.
Tour operator James Butler from Audley Travel, which provides “tailor-made holidays and tours for the discerning traveler seeking authentic experiences around the world,” couldn’t decide whether he was more impressed by the people he met in Nunavik or the wildlife he spotted.
And the caribou at Pingualuit, muskoxen on Diana Island and polar bears at Akpatok Island, all of which Butler saw on his trip, were “equally splendid.”
In short, Butler liked everything he did and saw.
Speaking to Nunatsiaq News July 30, on the final day of his visit to Nunavik, Butler said he was sure that he’ll be able to sell Nunavik’s charms to potential visitors from the UK despite the high cost of getting to northern Quebec — and travelling in the region.
“They do spend significant amounts to visit places off the beaten track. Nunavik will appeal to them,” Butler said.
Among Butler’s pleasant surprises: good hotels in Nunavik — because, as Butler put it, well-heeled adventure travelers also seek “hot-cold and toilet flushing” in their accommodations. These they can have even at the Manarsulik visitors’ cabins at Pingualuit park.
There and at the Kangiqsujuaq Inn catered food was provided by the local Mamartuq caterers, headed by Marion James, for the UK group.
The Quebec park interpretation centres, for Pingualuit park in Kangiqsujuaq and for Kuururjuaq park in Kangiqsualujjuaq, were, moveover, “absolutely fantastic” and “a joy to discover,” Butler said.
A big advantage in Nunavik’s favour, he said, is the friendliness of the local people and the strength of the Inuit culture.
Others on the familiarization trip to Nunavik included Phoebe Smith, editor of Wanderlust magazine, Neil S. Price, a photographer from Wanderlust, two other tour operators, Elizabeth Lunnon from Discover the World and David Marriott from Bridge & Wickers, and a representative of Destination Québec in the UK, Josephine Wiggall Lazarus.
Smith said she plans to write a story for the popular print version of the Wanderlust — which says it’s the UK’s “leading magazine for people with a passion for travel,” as well as a write-up for the website.
“Our readers are into going somewhere different,” Smith said — Nunavik with its “magnificent” scenery, knowledgable people and wildlife is just that, she said.
A trip around Akpatok Island on Johnny Adams’ catamaran offered her and the others a chance to get eye-to-eye with an iceberg and polar bear.
While Smith is not sure exactly what direction her stories will take, hearing the ice break up on the Pingualuit lake was an unforgettable experience that will stay wirth her.
During the UK visitors’ tour, Nunavik saw sunny skies accompanied by a heat wave with temperatures reaching 28.6 C in Kuujjuaq on July 29 — more than 10 C above the normal for this time of year.
As the group flew into Kuujjuaq they could see the beach by the Koksoak River with throngs of people.
Their only regret? They had brought polar fleeces and long underwear instead of bathing suits to the Arctic.
Tourisme Québec covered 80 per cent of the visit’s costs, with the remaining 20 per cent covered by the Nunavik Tourism Association, the Nunavik parks division of the Kativik Regional Government, Inuit Adventures and Tourisme Autochtone Québec.
Quebec said in 2011 that it planned to spend $32 million to attract more visitors to northern Quebec and to make the territory north of the 49th parallel a “world-class sustainable tourism destination” by 2021.
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