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ARVIAT
The future has finally arrived, as least for the participants of the Arviat Ecotourism Initiative.

A group of Australian tourists enjoy the telling of a traditional story inside a tupiq in Arviat this past month. - photo courtesy of Mike Robbins

The initiative welcomed a group of eight Australian tourists to the community this past month.

Mike Robbins of The Tourism Co. -- the company hired to develop the program -- said the Australian visit on Oct. 25 was the Arviat Ecotourism Initiative finally bearing fruit.

He said after working hard for the past 30 months to develop the program, the group is finally seeing tourists come to the community.

"We've trained the people, built capacity and made a huge effort to develop relationships with tour operators to bring their groups to Arviat," said Robbins.

"This was the first of what will be many future groups coming to Arviat."

The visitors toured the hamlet and were given an overview of their activities at the Arviat Visitor's Centre, before having a lunch provided, prepared and served by local high school students and enjoying a short historical presentation on Arviat by Luke Suluk and David Pelly.

After meeting several local carvers, the Australians visited a tupiq (traditional caribou skin tent) for a cultural presentation showcasing traditional ways, clothing, implements and Inuit tools.

Then it was off to the home of Mark and Angie Eetuk's for stories, tea and a taste of local country foods.

The group returned to the visitor's centre for a performance by the Arviat Qaggiqtiit (cultural performance troupe) before visiting the Kiluk Shop (sewing centre) to watch the making of sealskin products and browse the gift shop.

A cancelled flight had them also attend a show by students at John Arnalukjuak High School.

Robbins said the Australians were guests Frontiers North Adventures had coming to Churchill, Man., who wanted to experience an Inuit community for a day.

He said a number of people in Arviat really stepped up to help when the group's flight was cancelled.

"Beds were found for everyone and the tourists were taken to the high school that evening to see the Halloween feature presentation.

"They loved the show and, the next morning, we made them breakfast and did some debriefing with them.

"They told us they had a great time, so I expect the feedback from Frontiers North to be very positive.

"They said they loved Arviat and the activities put on by the people here."

Robbins said the visit was exciting for workers involved with the initiative.

He said it was a validation of their efforts leading up to this point.

"We've been developing the program for the past 30 months and doing training and more training.

"But, before this, it was always someday in the future when tourists would come and experience this.

"We were doing one last round of training in Arviat the day before the visit and there was huge excitement among everyone involved.

"On the big day, you could see the pride in sharing their culture with outsiders."

Initiative development, funded by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Kivalliq Inuit Association, is now at the midway point.

Robbins said Arviat will see a lot more tourists visit during the next 30 months.

"We'll work in tandem with those visits to continue training and help entrepreneurs develop small businesses involved with the program, such as outfitters and bed-and-breakfast operations.

"More people in Arviat will get involved with the initiative as we continue to move forward.

"At the end of the five years, we'll turn the keys to the entire operation over to the community of Arviat."

Robbins said next up is a visit by a group of 30 people being led by World Wildlife Fund Canada on Nov. 18.

He said the group is made up of people from around the world with a company called Royal Sun Alliance.

"They're spending time in Churchill and will be chartering to Arviat to enjoy a full day of programming.

"We have three tour operators coming to experience the program on Nov. 19-20, with hopes they'll start offering Arviat in their programs."

Some tour operators are already marketing Arviat as a destination of choice.

For one, G Adventures, it's the first time in about 20 years the Canadian company has offered a product in its own country.

Robbins said G Adventures will have three departures to Arviat next summer, each for five full days in the community.

He said another tour-operator partner, Arctic Kingdom, is expected to bring Japanese tourists to the spring caribou program.

"We have Richard Wiese from ABC TV's Born to Explore bringing his film crew to Arviat for three days.

"We're doing a cultural presentation for him to film in an attempt to get media exposure in the United States and internationally.

"We're also continuing to develop relationships with a number of other tour operators."

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