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Inuvik moves to capitalize on big 2015 tourist season Wednesday October 21 2015 11 SMALL BUSINESS WEEK www.pelicanrapidsinn.com Pelican Rapids Inn 152 McDougal Road Fort Smith NT Tel 867-872-2789 Toll Free 1-877-362-4205 Fax 867-872-4727 THE BLUE ROOM AND THE AURORA ROOM AT THE PELICAN RAPIDS INN IN FORT SMITH are available for events throughout the year. Meetings seminars training private parties and corporate gatherings. The latest audiovisual and teleconferencing equipment is available. Celebrating Small Business Week By CRAIG GILBERT Opportunities must be seized north of the Arctic Circle especially by towns expecting at growth for the near future. The town of Inuvik has one in front of it and administrators are working to gure out how to capitalize on the surge of tourists who visited last summer. Tourism is a big thing here SAO Grant Hood said. There denitely was a noticeable increase this year. It was also a big topic at the all-candidates meeting. Trafc on the Dempster has been steadily increasing but 2015 was a slightly unex- pected bumper year for the town accord- ing to marketing coordinator Taylor Gifn. There were signatures from people from all six continents in the towns guestbook one week over the summer. More recently a tour bus of about 60 tour- ists including eight journalistslmographers from China passed through Inuvik via the Dempster. The town welcomed them with local food and a tour of the highlights and nished with a photo shoot in front of the town logo with furs borrowed from the Arctic Chalet Resort. A return trip is in the works. Where Yellowknife has a stranglehold on the Japanese market were always looking at the Asian market and China would be good to tap into Gifn said. Visitors have a good time while they are in town regardless of their origin according to a weekly survey at the visitors centre. All of the tourists interviewed said they had a very good time during the average 4.75 days they spent in Inuvik and that they would recom- mend the experience to others. Gifn said most tourists were drawn to the town to experience local culture and north- ern life to cross the Arctic Circle and to see the scenery and wildlife. On Saturdays they had the chance to shop local from growers and artisans at the Arc- tic Market which nished its third summer in September. Led by volunteers the market generated about 1150 for the town and about 180 for each of the vendors on average per weeksellinglocallygrownmadecarvedsewn cooked baked or created items. There was a minimum of eight vendors selling on each of the 12 Saturdays in the markets season. Another growing attraction is the Dempster itself. Every year drivers take their cars trucks and recreational vehicles up the road to the northernmost Canadian settlement accessible byroadjustforthetripaccordingtoGifnand two-wheeled tourism is picking up too. Adventuremotorcyclingstartswithdualsport bikes suitable for both long-haul highway rides and rugged trail use as Rush drummer Neil Peart put it when he described working up his nerve to tackle the Dempster designed with highclearancelong-travelsuspensionandstout wheelstohandleheavybaggageandbadroads. AstudyonmotorcycletourismontheDemp- sterreleasedbytheGNWTandtheYukongov- ernment earlier this year found that like Peart the people adventure riding the Dempster are almost entirely men 45-64 years of age 40 per cent of them American and almost all of them riding BMWs. Half earned 120000 per year ormoreandtheytendedtospendabout1000 on supplies and accommodations on their trip. They sought out travel destinations based on outstanding scenery wilderness and wild- life areas and seek physical challenges while maintaining personal safety. Itsapparentfromthetwophasesofthestudy thattheDempsterHighwayrepresentsasigni- cantportionoftheoverallmotorcycletripbutit isnottheonlydestinationothernorthernroads andevensouthernprovincesareincludedinthe trip itineraries the report states. Kathy Lowe from Clayton Ontario had an amazing experience that was beyond her wildest dreams this year when she and her husband took their grandkids up the highway after 45 years of talking about it according to a release prepared by Gifn. Its almost like an adventure travel op- portunity Gifn said. Its a growing trend that weve got to pay attention to. Now that the robust summer is gone the town is preparing for the annual Inuvik Sun- rise Festival and participation in the Muskrat Jamboree. Travel packages are in the pro- cess of being prepared and expectations are that both of these events will once again be highly successful. Chinese tourists pose with furs loaned from the Arctic Chalet Resort during a group trip up the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. PhotocourtesyofTaylorGifn On behalf of my wife Joan and I thank you to my campaigners who worked so hard on my campaign these last weeks and thank you to those who supported me at the polls. We fought a good fight we did our best. To the great people of the NWT it has been an honour to serve you these last nine years as your member of Parliament. We have come a long way in that time but there is much work to be done. I wish Michael McLeod the best of luck in those endeavours. Mahsi Cho Dennis Bevington