Nunavut cruise ship season shaping up to be busy

Nunavut communities are preparing for a busy cruise ship season, but it's hard to know just how much money these visitors inject into local economies.

Nunavut Tourism president Kevin Kelley hopes new initiatives will help measure the economic impact of cruise ship tourism in the territory.

"We're working with the government on a new travel and tourism act and also with that there's also going to be a cruise ship management plan," he said.

Kelly said cruise ships will call 40 times at 12 different communities this summer. The hot spot? Pond Inlet. The hamlet says a record number of cruise ships are scheduled to arrive this month.

"Originally there were 13 ships scheduled, but due to ice conditions there are now 10 ships to arrive in Pond Inlet in the month of August," said hamlet spokesperson Angela Nutarak.

Matty McNair, who owns Iqaluit outfitting company NorthWinds Arctic Adventure, said an aging population is driving increased travel to Nunavut.

"I think the reason why there's more and more cruise ships coming up here is we're looking at the baby boomers. And they're now retiring and they have some disposable income and they have a bucket list and they've been going down to Antarctica, and, 'Oh, let's go to the Arctic.' And so there's lots of trips coming up," she said.