Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 08/02) - The only place to light up at the Frobisher Inn in Iqaluit will be in a designated guest room or the Tulugak Bar. The establishment has banned smoking in its restaurant, cafe and lobby.

"You go to a non-smoking environment and you increase business. We will lose some people, but we'll gain a lot more," said Rainer Launhardt, manager of the Frobisher Inn.

The ban has been a long time coming. Two-and-a- half years ago, the inn had only two non-smoking rooms.

Today, 47 out of the 95 rooms are smoke-free and Launhardt said they will be expanding this even further in the future.

"It's all based on customer demand. People want a non-smoking area when they have meals and beverages," said Launhardt.

Tulugak Bar, part of the Frobisher Inn, will still welcome smokers.

Management said this will be permitted because there are no children in this part of the building.

And Launhardt does not foresee any changes to this decision in the near future. By the end of the year, he suspects most public establishments in Iqaluit will be forced to follow in the inn's footsteps because of a bylaw already being discussed by the city itself.

"We just took the lead and went for it," he said.

Launhardt said the only people they expect a bad reaction from are the smokers themselves.

The ban comes into effect Aug. 1.