by Nancy Gardiner
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 08/97) - After working in the hotel industry in Toronto for a decade, Christine Ming decided it was time for a drastic change. And what could be more drastic than moving from Toronto to Yellowknife?

The energetic and well-travelled marketing and sales specialist put the twice-daily 40-minute, eight-kilometre commute behind her and headed North.

"I don't miss that -- the constant buzz of the 401 from my window -- nor the smog," she says.

Ming is flush with the spirit of having just started a new job in Yellowknife. She's responsible for the certification and marketing aspect of the NWT Tourism Training Group.

The former life-long Torontonian helps people in the NWT tourism industry become certified professionals. That includes hotel personnel, bartenders, food and beverage servers at restaurants, tourism information counsellors, local tour guides, heritage interpreters and museum staff.

The certification process depends upon the experience the workers bring to their job, and they must actually be working in the field.

This past summer, the Wildcat Cafe went through certification of its employees, said Ming.

Ming's three main duties are administration, seeking new people and communicating with others to share ideas.

"The administration aspect to it is keeping candidates up to date as to how they're doing getting them set up for performance evaluations.

"Next is seeking new people, then corresponding with other provinces and Yukon to share ideas, often using e-mail. Tourism is growing and growing and I want to keep the momentum up," said Ming.

She hopes to travel the North soon, planning to get out to lodges when she returns from meetings in Edmonton.

"I want to see the environment they're working in and see what different organizations have to offer."

Previously, Ming travelled to Europe frequently as part of Delta Hotels' marketing team. She worked for Delta in Toronto for nine years, then for Howard Johnson's on contract.