As pandemic travel fears ease, 'more demand than ever' for Indigenous tourism experiences: association VP

How the pandemic affected the Indigenous tourism industry was on the mind for many attendees at the International Indigenous Tourism Conference in Winnipeg this week — the first time the event has been held since 2019, prior to the emergence of COVID-19.

Sébastien Desnoyers-Picard, vice-president of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, says 2019 was the best year yet for the Indigenous tourism industry.

Then the pandemic hit.

"Everything was going fast and furious," Desnoyers-Picard said, but when the pandemic came, Indigenous tourism companies struggled to get government grants to sustain their businesses.

Desnoyers-Picard also said the number of Indigenous employees in the Indigenous tourism industry has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

However, as people have become more accustomed to living with COVID-19 and are travelling again, there is "more demand than ever," he said.

The purpose of this year's Indigenous tourism conference — its 10th edition, which started Wednesday and wraps up Friday —  was to show successful stories, particularly for other Indigenous business owners to see "what success can be for them," Desnoyers-Picard said.

The goal for his association is to see 800 new businesses created and 60,000 Indigenous people employed in the industry by 2030, he said.

"Pent-up demand is still there.… Now more than ever, people are wanting to discover Indigenous culture."

Launching a new business

Bobbi Rose Koe, a speaker at the international conference this year and owner and operator of Dinjii Zhuh Adventures — a Yukon-based company that offers guided river trips throughout the North — agrees.

When she attended her first conference in Kelowna, B.C., in 2019, Koe didn't have a business yet but was working on building her company. She noticed other Indigenous tourism companies popping up all over Canada and wanted to be a part of this form of reconciliation in action.

She wanted her business to be Indigenous-focused and led, setting a goal after the Kelowna conference that by the next one, she'd be a speaker.

Koe launched her business in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. But because her business involved being out in nature, she says COVID-19 didn't affect her trips.

"I feel like the pandemic helped me in the way of getting on the rivers with locals and learning from them," Koe said.

Coming up with a business venture that was Indigenous-led on the rivers she wanted to traverse had "always been a dream," she said. 

"Indigenous tourism is the way to go, and it's going to be the way forward," she said.

"Canada is going to change and it's going to be great."

Reconciliation in action: Sinclair

Former Manitoba judge and senator Murray Sinclair, the keynote speaker on the second day of the conference, sees the Indigenous tourism industry as a way to provide jobs and training for the next generation of Indigenous youth.

Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, also sees Indigenous tourism as a form of reconciliation in action, where people can learn about the country and the peoples of the country.

"Tourism is the element to engage," Sinclair said. 

Koe's Dinjii Zhuh Adventures is already training youth in guiding skills.

Last year, backed by businesses from around the North, Koe put together a trip for youth to build knowledge and skills before going on a guided river trip.

"We brought in youth from around the North for eight weeks with safety training and skills and knowledge, traditional knowledge … in the Yukon last summer," Koe said.

"Two weeks of the eight weeks we spent … on Wind River," she said, giving the youth "hands-on skills and experience to be river guides or work in the tourism industry." 

Koe says this year, a few of the youth from the trip are coming back.

Knowing the training has been a successful venture, Koe is proud of the young people learning these traditional skills and knowledge.

"If they're happy, I'm happy," she said.