Aurora World closes as fewer Japanese tourists visit N.W.T.

The Yellowknife-based tourism operator Aurora World Corp. has shut down, citing factors from stiff competition to the current economic turmoil for a steady drop in the number of Japanese tourists visiting the Northwest Territories.

More than 30 employees are out of work after Aurora World, which offered N.W.T. packages for Japanese tourists wanting to see the northern lights, closed its doors last week. The company is now referring clients to its former competitor, Aurora Village.

Aurora World chair Darryl Bohnet told CBC News that there had been a steady decline in tourist numbers since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

"Every year, at this time, we have difficulty projecting what we're going to get for visitors. It's a crystal ball guessing game at the best of times," Bohnet said Thursday.

"All indiciations, based on discussions with our suppliers, was that it was going to be another soft year due to the world economy."

As well, Bohnet said high fuel prices and competition from other Arctic regions also contributed to the closure.

He said Alaska in particular "had a number of charters, underwritten by the Alaskan government, that took clients directly [from Japan] to Alaska without any stops."

Tourism operators like Aurora World had lobbied for similar non-stop flights from Japan to Yellowknife, but that never happened.

"That's always been a problem," N.W.T. Tourism Minister Bob McLeod said.

"It's always been cited that if we could find a way to get direct flights from Toyko to Yellowknife, it would be a big shot in the arm for the Japanese aurora-viewing [industry]."

Aurora World's Japanese staff, once permanant employees who came from Japan to Yellowknife, recently refused the company's offer of seasonal work on an hourly wage. Many have since returned to their home country, Bohnet said.

As well, shareholders were unwilling to lend the company money to cover startup costs for a new season, he added.