SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Scenes, activities and people from the North will be across the country through a new tourism marketing campaign aiming to promote Canada's North as a year-round tourism destination.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, on behalf of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) announced an investment of about $3.5 million last month for a pan-territorial tourism marketing campaign, titled Canada's North Marketing Campaign.

Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Bob McLeod said talks with the federal government have been ongoing for years, with all three territorial tourism ministers working together.

"This funding will be used to attract tourists from across the nation," said McLeod.

"I think that it's going to be a boon for all three territories."

He said the territories have worked together successfully to promote the North in the past, especially as they jointly operated Canada's Northern House at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

McLeod said key marketing destinations used in the past include Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary, and marketing campaigns in these locations have been successful.

NWT Tourism will be handling the funding on the territory's behalf, according to McLeod, determining which cities and media to focus on. The campaign will be geared to individuals with a keen sense of exploration and love of outdoor adventures.

"NWT Tourism is our marketing arm," he said, adding the organization will spend $4.8 million this year on the tourism industry and $1.6 million of that on marketing.

Gerry LePrieur, executive director of NWT Tourism, said contractors from around the territory have been hired and are working as part of the pan-territorial marketing consortium.

"We put out a competition quite a few months back in anticipation of receiving the funding and selected our contractor based on that," said LePrieur.

He said the tourism organization, the GNWT and contractors are all sitting at the table together brainstorming how to reach southern markets with a strong message.

"We have our tactics set in place, our timing, our target and the budget's already been set. We are looking at television ads and it's quite possible that we'll be working with a lot of Globe and Mail ads as well."

- with files from Tim Edwards

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