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Audio guide unveiled More than 40 locations scattered around Iqaluit are featured
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 19, 2013
IQALUIT
Tourists and residents alike can now learn more about Iqaluit and its many attractions thanks to the creation of a new audio guide by Carrefour Nunavut.
Francois Fortin, left, and Danielle Samson, both from Carrefour Nunavut, unveiled the new audio guide on Aug. 14 at the Unikkaarvik Visitor's Centre in Iqaluit.- Myles Dolphin/NNSL photo |
The free guide, more than 15 months in the making, can be downloaded from Carrefour Nunavut's website or borrowed from the Unikkaarvik Visitor's Centre on one of nine iPod shuffles.
The self-guided tour provides cultural, political and historical information on 42 different stations around the city and is available in French, English and Inuktitut.
Some of the locations - which can be downloaded individually from the website - include sub-stops, such as the one on the legislative assembly, where more background information on Nunavut's political structure is provided.
The idea initially came from a Carrefour Nunavut intern who, last summer, devised an idea for the guide. The project was later taken over by communications and members' services officer Francois Fortin, who spent 10 months working on it.
At the Aug. 14 unveiling of the guide, which is roughly two hours in length, Fortin said a lot of work went into the various components of the project.
"It took more than 10 different partners to develop this," he said.
"We needed people to do the research on the various locations, write a first draft - which was in French - correct it and translate it. Then we had to find narrators and record it."
Serge Bouchard, an anthropologist and radio personality in Quebec, provided the French narration. Daniel Farrow, a former Iqaluit resident, read the English version. And Karliin Aariak lent her voice for the Inuktitut version.
Carrefour Nunavut's general director, Danielle Samson, said one of the goals of the project was also to take advantage of the vast number of francophones who visit Canada every year.
"More than 420,000 French tourists visit Canada on an annual basis," she said. "We want to tap into that.
"It's a great way of enriching tourism here."
Some of the destinations on the map include Iqaluit's fabled Four Corners, Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park and the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum.
The guide will also be made available to outfitters who are members of Carrefour Nunavut.
Fortin said now that the guide is complete, a new one - Phase two, as he calls it - may be created for another Nunavut town, such as Pangnirtung.
Nunavut Tourism chief executive officer, Colleen Dupuis, said it's a great project and a wonderful addition to the Iqaluit visitor centre.
"It's great for tourists but also for local people who just want to learn more about their city," she said. "I hope people will take advantage of it."
The cost of the project was approximately $63,000 and was funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), and the government of Nunavut's departments of Culture and Heritage and Economic Development and Transportation.
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