Yellowknife (Dec 08/04) - The resignation of the NWT Tourism's president isn't going to put more money into the industry, at least not yet.

"I'd love to see more funding, but first you must assess the model and then get recommendations out of this work," said Brendan Bell, minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

Bell said any new money for tourism would be levered with other money from Aboriginal Business Canada or other federal agencies such as the Canadian Tourism Commission.

Jim Peterson has said he resigned from his position with NWT Tourism due to the territorial government's lack of funding for tourism and the premier's omission of tourism in his sessional statement.

"Jim spent a lot of time and effort over the years and this can be draining. He put in a lot of work to bring them (the tourism association) back from the red and it's now good and in the black and other people can continue where he has left off," said Bell.

Mackay Lake Lodge owner and former vice-president for the board Gary Jaeb said he has mixed feelings over Peterson's resignation.

"First off, I agree with Jim: tourism hasn't received enough attention. The government is fixated on diamonds and pipelines," said Jaeb.

At the same time, Jaeb said it's important that NWT Tourism pay more attention to the regional organizations, which make up part of the board.

"He was re-elected and he chose to leave. I don't think it was realistic that the government would double the marketing budget because he was threatening to resign," said Jaeb.

Jaeb said there has not been an increase in funding since Richard Lafferty's tenure as president, which ended in 2002. In 2001, the association received a $900,000 increase, bringing its budget to $1.8 million.

"If we look at the history of the organization, the last time we received an increase was prior to Peterson's tenure," said Jaeb.

He said an effort to implement a hotel tax, funds which may have benefitted the marketing of tourism in the territories, did not make it through the Legislative Assembly.

Now, the idea is being reborn to help pay for a convention centre, he said.

But Jaeb wouldn't be specific on how much the tourism industry in the Northwest Territories requires to properly market itself.

"I'm not going to pick a number. There is a point where you don't have enough money in advertising," said Jaeb. "You need frequency and you need size. So look at other jurisdictions and what we're up against. The Yukon gets three to four times what we get."