Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 14/99) - If the NWT is to successfully capture more funding, it must present a united front, according to an industry consultant.

And the organization that has to make the lone pitch for more cash from the GNWT should be NWT Arctic Tourism, Allan Moore said.

If a community wants to bring visitors to its attractions, businesses should turn to their respective municipalities to fund such initiatives and not to the GNWT, he said.

"NWT Arctic Tourism (alone) should lobby the Government of the NWT for tourism funding," he said.

Moore said the difference may be subtle but adopting this hierarchical approach will serve the NWT's tourism sector better in the long run.

"NWT Arctic Tourism's mandate should be to bring people to the NWT. Various communities and regions should then (have initiatives) to attract visitors," he said.

"Different groups going for money dilutes the pot."

Moore, director and vice-president of Tourism Vancouver Island, made the comments at the recent NWT Arctic Tourism annual general meeting. He has produced marketing plans for various levels of government and other organizations. As well as his position with Tourism Vancouver, Moore is a director with several other tourism organizations.

Moore also said the tourism sector should urge airlines to lower advance- purchase ticket prices.

It costs very little, perhaps only a few hundred dollars, for a tourist from Japan to add the Vancouver to Yellowknife leg to his or her trip. Why can't airlines provide cheaper advance-purchase tickets at lower prices?, he said.

Tourism operators may be able to convince airlines to offer lower fares if they relate the tickets to a package being bought by a tourist. If operators are guaranteeing customers, they may be able to negotiate changes in the number of seats airlines set aside at lower prices, he explained.