Travel Nunavut has its work cut out with $1B plan
New president takes over as world reconsiders what sustainable travel looks like
Passengers from the cruise ship Silver Endeavour arrive in Kinngait earlier this summer. Scenes like this could play out more frequently across the territory if Travel Nunavut is successful in expanding Nunavut’s travel sector to a $1-billion-a-year industry. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Nunavut appears ready for the next step in an ambitious plan to turn its travel sector into a billion-dollar-a-year industry, but it comes at a time when the world is reconsidering the environmental impact of tourism.
Travel Nunavut — the territory’s travel industry association — announced last week that Alex Stubbing will become its next president. He’s replacing Kevin Kelly, who held the job since 2015 but recently moved to Pinnguaq.
Stubbing’s job is to lead the organization toward its goal of making Nunavut’s travel sector generate $1 billion a year in revenue by 2030 — just five years from now. The plan is also to have the travel sector account for 5,000 jobs.
It raised some eyebrows when Travel Nunavut announced that goal last November. Like Nunavut 3000 — the Government of Nunavut’s plan to build 3,000 homes between 2021 and 2030 — it’s another ambitious target that, if met, could transform the territory.
The goal would essentially double the impact of the travel sector from its pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels of $400 million in annual revenue and 3,000 jobs in 2019.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Nunavut could boost its economy by playing host to the world? A diversified economy would create more jobs and a wider variety of opportunities for Nunavummiut. Right now, a lot of the territory’s eggs are either in the government or mining baskets.
But that billion-dollar conversion is coming as the entire world is increasingly aware of the environmental downside of travel, particularly airplane flights.
The world desperately needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change. Airplane travel is one of the biggest culprits in this area.
The other likely growth area for Nunavut’s travel industry is cruise ships. As climate change makes it easier and easier to navigate the Arctic Ocean longer into the year, the arrival of more cruise ships is a symptom of climate change.
Of course, Nunavut is not alone. Every dot on the map wants to expand its travel and tourism sectors. The industry injects new money — visitors’ money — into the host economy.
There’s also an uncomfortable reality that tourism can exploit the host’s culture by putting it on display to entertain the affluent before they move onto their next stop.
And travel is a competitive sector around the world. Marketing organizations like Travel Nunavut have to convince people to spend their time and money in Nunavut instead of Paris, Las Vegas or Niagara Falls.
Even those who are looking for natural adventures have options like the Grand Canyon, the Australian Outback or climbing Machu Picchu in South America. As appealing as the northern lights are, that’s stiff competition.
Gone are the days of building an amusement park, gift shop and ice cream stand and … presto — tourism mecca.
Travellers have become increasingly more sophisticated about what’s out there to see, more discriminating about their options and more demanding for an authentic, high-quality experience wherever they go.
It’s a lofty goal Travel Nunavut has set. It will be a tall order to expand the travel sector in a sustainable way that respects Canada’s broader environmental goals without turning Nunavut into some kind of Arctic Disneyland.
Excellent article. An important part of the dialogue in the travel industry. SUSTAINABILITY is a key element of the travel industry in Nunavut. In fact, sustainability of communities in Nunavut is dependent on a growing and successful travel industry. They are mutually interdependent. This article highlights leisure travel – a small segment of Nunavut’s travel industry. The majority of businesses in Nunavut’s travel industry do not rely solely on leisure travellers.
The travel industry in Nunavut will likely grow to $1 billion of revenue within the next 5 to 7 years just to facilitate the economic, social, recreation, education, health, and government needs of a youthful population spread across 25 communities in a vast land that makes up 21% of Canada’s land mass. Leisure travel will be an important part of that growth but a relatively small part of it.
Nunavut’s travel industry is critical to day-to-day sustainability of life in Nunavut with passenger and freight services by air and sea. It is basic to the provision of government services; supply of food and household goods; construction of residences, commercial and government buildings, community and recreation facilities, and infrastructure; mining; hunting and fishing; sports and cultural events and activities; health care; education and training; military activities; short term accommodation and food services; getaways and vacations for Nunavummiut; and so on.
There is an overwhelming need for Nunavut’s travel industry to grow in capacity, technology, management, training, and sophistication to meet the basic travel needs of Nunavummiut never mind accommodating the needs of travellers from around the world. Although leisure travellers from around the world make up a relatively small segment of Nunavut’s travel industry, their needs will help drive the sophistication and training required for a successful travel industry for Nunavummiut.
There is a great responsibility and need to effectively manage the use and access to the Arctic environs recognizing that there is a delicate balance and capacity to the environment and the communities to handle not only leisure travellers but all types of travellers.
Nunavut’s travel industry will undergo vast changes to manage double digit growth each year over the next 5 to 10 years. It requires coordinated efforts and significant resources of industry, government, and NGOs to bring about the investment, planning, management, training, and education needed to accommodate this growth. There will be a lot of pushing and pulling along the way. It will be important to facilitate, accommodate, and provide the right structure and resources for rapid managed growth. It will be almost impossible to stand in the way of it. All involved will need to embrace and facilitate rapid change. And yes, some communities may decide that they have limited capacity for more leisure travellers. Their decisions must be respected.
It sounds like you’re referring to transportation infrastructure and the need for significant federal funding to not only support the travel industry but all industries in Nunavut, existing and burgeoning. Agreed.