Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 21/01) - After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, outfitter Boyd Warner got word that two of his American hunting parties had cancelled.

He doesn't have the heart to send them a bill, and he's not the only one in the area facing economic hardship.

Last week's terrorists attacks in the U.S. have affected the lives of Northerners on many fronts. One group so far largely unmentioned is tourism operators.

An important tourism industry this time of year is hunting. From mid-August to the end of September, a narrow window of opportunity opens for guiding outfitters to get their guests out onto the field for the fall caribou hunt.

A vast majority of them are Americans who, according to officials with the Department of Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development, spend between upwards of $8 million on hunting trips to the NWT every year.

"Most outfitters, as a standard, will not give cancellation refunds 30 to 60 days before a trip, but there's a need for compassion in light of what happened," says Boyd Warner, who operates two caribou hunting camps in the Barrens -- one at White Wolf Lake and another at Little Martin Lake.

"I think a lot of outfitters have been affected by this. Lots of cancellations mid-way can affect thousands and thousands of dollars."

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, he received word that two of his American hunting parties would not be coming this year. He says he doesn't have the heart to send them a bill.

One of those cancelled parties was a group of eight, which he estimates would have brought in between $45,000 and $50,000 in revenue.

Peterson's Point Lake Lodge owner Jim Peterson figures he got off lucky. His last hunt of the year wrapped last week, and therefore his outfitting company suffered no cancellations as a result of the attacks and subsequent suspension of air travel.

Peterson says he sympathizes with outfitters like Warner who are still trying to run a camp, because operating expenses and fees will never be recovered as a result of the cancelled trips.

"It's kind of hard if you got one or two trips at the end of the season left, because it backs up to the following year," say Peterson, noting that even if trips were rescheduled, the operator will still have swallow his losses this year.

Flights to the camps have already been pre-booked, guides at the camps still have to be paid, and the food has already been ordered.

"The only thing that didn't cost any money was the gas for the motor boats, because we didn't have to use it," says Warner.

City businesses hurt

With hunting camps remaining empty, the trickle-down effect has reached other tourism operators as well.

Prospector's Bed and Breakfast owner Gord Piro says 80 per cent of his bookings were cancelled last week, mostly by Americans on their way to hunting camps.

"It was certainly out of the ordinary," says Piro.

Piro says business seems to be returning to normal for now, but is uncertain what the future will have in store.

"Tourism will probably slow down around the world. Nobody wants to fly," Piro explains.

For now, Warner and other hunting outfitters and tourism operators are left counting their losses.

"Maybe the government will bail us out like Air Canada," says Warner with a chuckle.