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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Saturday Globe and Mail readers may have come across a full-page colour advertisement this past weekend, touting the NWT as a top sport fishing destination.

Ron Ostrom, director of marketing with NWT Tourism, said the government agency got a steal of a deal on the ad.

Vince Halushka, left, with Trout Rock Lodge owner Ragnar Wesstrom, right, holds a 44.5-inch pike last summer. NWT Tourism recently took out a full-page colour ad with four Northern companies in the Globe and Mail, in an attempt to snag sport fishers. - photo courtesy of Vince Halushka

"There's just been some amazing deals right now, with the way the global economy is," he said.

Ostrom said the full-page colour space, which normally costs advertisers around $50,000, was offered for just $10,000.

The ad - in the sports section of the national newspaper with a circulation of 2.8 million each week - features two smiling people holding a massive Northern pike, and lists four separate fishing lodges in the NWT across the bottom of the page.

Ostrom said the four spots for Northern lodges, ranged in $750 to $1,000 apiece and sold out so quickly NWT Tourism has already secured a second ad with four more lodges for the April 4th edition of the Globe.

The marketing director said sport fishing is the most lucrative sector of the NWT tourism industry.

"Just looking in terms of what visitors spend in all the sectors, it's the one that brings in the most money currently right now," he said.

For instance, with numbers provided by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, fishing brought in $17.5 million in 2007-2008, while Aurora tourism brought in $9.6 million. Although these numbers are territory-wide, and most Aurora viewing takes place in the Yellowknife area.

In the past five years, the number of visitors who came to the NWT for sport fishing has remained relatively stable, with 7,470 people coming North to fish in 2007-2008.

Back at the start of the decade, however, nearly a thousand more people visited the territory to fish each year. At that time, anglers typically spent over $20 million in the NWT each year.

Ostrom said the sport fishing industry hasn't been specifically targeted this season, but it is one of a number of sectors the non-profit organization is marketing. These areas include hunting, viewing the northern lights, outdoor adventures, touring and business travel.

The photo used in the advertisement came from Trout Rock Lodge, owned by Ragnar Wesstrom, who rattled off the names of both the visitor and employee in the photo with a chuckle.

Wesstrom, whose lodge will appear in the April 4 ad, said the co-op ads enable companies to reach an audience they probably couldn't on their own.

"It's a pretty good offer from the tourism people there," he said. "Operators couldn't afford an ad like that on their own."

As of Monday morning, the advertisement had generated 10 telephone inquiries with NWT Tourism.

Ostrom did not have any internet data yet.

This year, NWT Tourism will get about $1.95 million from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment to market the territory.

NWT Tourism also receives money from federal programs, although it had nothing in the works as of yet this year.

Ostrom said around $1.5 million of the budget will be spent within North America, $250,000 in Europe and $150,000 in Asia. He added most of the tourists that visit the NWT come from elsewhere in Canada.

Wesstrom said he's focused on attracting trophy fishermen and looks mostly to the United States, but said anything helps. "Now is tough times around the world, so everything helps for tourism," he said.

Wesstrom said the upcoming season, starting May 31, looks very good.

"We're about 85 per cent booked for the fishing season," he said.