INUVIK - One perplexed tourist walked into Western Arctic Regional Visitors Centre last year and asked Naudia Lennie point blank whether the town's utilidor system was actually a subway system.

"This man inquired with a straight face. He wasn't joking," said the centre's manager. "Everybody wants to know what the utilidors are."

Naudia Lennie, manager of the Western Arctic Regional Visitors Centre, shows off a small selection of what the tourist magnet has to offer. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

She said there are many visitors who arrive stunned that the town isn't covered with ice, much less the fact that we get pretty darned hot summers here.

"Last year a couple of visitors asked whether it was a result of global warming," said Lennie.

But she doesn't mind. Lennie jumps at the opportunity to teach dumbfounded tourists all about her hometown and its surrounding communities. In fairness, some, especially Europeans, arrive having done their homework.

The centre officially opened Monday for the summer season and Lennie has two guides to help her out.

"I really enjoy educating people," said Lennie, who is part Inuvialuit and part Gwich'in. "It's where I'm from. It's what I know. I'm proud of where I come from and I want to share that with people."

The centre is a dense but uncluttered site with a balance of text displays documenting the history of the region and Inuvialuit and Gwich'in traditional items. Moccasins, mukluks and intricate beadwork displays decorate the centre, as well as a stuffed muskox and caribou.

This time around, the trio will be trying a few new tourist activities such as a Dempster Highway photo scavenger hunt, where visitors will take their cameras out on the highway, snapping shots of various landmarks. They're also planning to establish a walking trail behind the centre.

Like last year, they're hoping to showcase some local soapstone carvers on site, which was a hit with tourists.