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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After driving two days to Yellowknife, Rick and Winnie Cook were excited to see their son and enjoy what the city had to offer. Instead they were greeted with disappointment.

The Wildcat Cafe was closed. The museum exhibits weren't complete. And some tourist sites were a chore to find.

It put a damper on the visit, said the couple's son Al Cook, adding his parents came all the way from Prince George, B.C.

"I've been in Yellowknife now since '98 and to hear my parents say they were disappointed with our museum, was kind of disappointing," he said, adding they also had trouble locating the place.

"They drive to find the museum and there is no signage pointing to the museum, no signs pointing to the tourist information centre ... There is just no signage anywhere to indicate anything."

The city and the territorial government need to be doing more to make Yellowknife a tourist-friendly place, Cook added.

City councillor Paul Falvo echoed Cook's sentiments, saying the city needs to not only do a better job selling Yellowknife to the outside world but also make sure visitors have a good experience when they get here. For instance, he said, more could be done to keep downtown clean and inviting.

"In everything that we do we should be looking at whether there is potential there to assist not only our residents and businesses but also visitors to the city, making sure that we're creating a positive experience for them," Falvo said.

It would be helpful for visitors, Falvo continued, if there were signs leading to areas such as the McMahon Frame Lake Trail and the Niven Lake Trail. These areas are beautiful, Falvo said, but if there aren't any indicators prompting tourists to visit those places they're going to miss out.

"I travel to a lot of Northern communities in my job and you go to these communities and they could have something amazing there and you would never know it unless you really dig for it because the advertising, the signage it just isn't there. Yellowknife needs to make sure that we don't fall into that trap," he said.

"We get up here and we look at things through our eyes and we know where everything is and so we are used to that. We forget that for a visitor they may not know where things are."

Last year, the GNWT's Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment spent about $4.5 million on tourism development and marketing for the North, while Yellowknife spent $500,000 on city tourism. Both governments help fund the Northern Frontier Visitors Association, which runs the information kiosk off 48 Street and provides visitors with assistance at its gift shop in the airport.

Tracy Therrien, general manager of the centre, said they are able to provide visitors with a wealth of information, if they can get to the centre. There is not enough signage pointing to the legislative assembly, the museum or the visitors centre, she said.

"There are locals who struggle to find us," Therrien said.

"We need better signage to the centre. You pass us before you notice the question mark and then it's questionable about how to get into us. So we definitely need better highway signage and there should be more signage on Franklin Avenue."

However, Mayor Gord Van Tighem said getting a sign up in Yellowknife is easier said than done.

"One of the challenges with signage, especially if people are just trying to go by road, is that the Department of Transportation has rules about what signs can be on highways," Van Tighem said.

To suggest a sign, applicants can submit a proposal to the department for consideration.

"I can't imagine a situation where the City of Yellowknife wants to put up a sign to promote tourism and we would not say, 'yes,'" said Earl Blacklock, media spokesperson for the department. "Generally if it's for the public's interest, travellers' interest then it goes up. The main issue is that it not be a distraction and it conveys important information."

Still, even if visitors find the museum, the exhibits aren't complete and its cafe still needs to be repaired after a chimney fire that ravaged it on Boxing Day last year, said Cook, adding it's unacceptable.

"There are all these displays at the museum that aren't finished. Like, come on, get these things finished. The kids' section is really good but you hit this button and this thing does work. You hit that button and this doesn't work," he said. "I don't know why those things aren't ready ... Sure, they can say, well this happened, this happened but people don't care about that. They want results."

Barb Cameron, director of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, said construction on the cafe will start now that the territorial government has approved the budget.

The $520,000 repair should be done by early January, Cameron said.

The south and north galleries will also take a few more months to complete, she added. The museum staff has been working since 2005 to create all new exhibits with interactive elements.

Many of the elements are working at this point, Cameron said, but some still need to be put in.

"Quality exhibits do take time," she said, adding she is proud of the changes that are happening. "(The museum) is becoming state of the art."

As for the Wildcat, it is set to open before the end of July, according to Van Tighem.

"It's almost open," he said. "(Cook) should have said, 'stay another two weeks mom and dad. It will be open.'"

Van Tighem added that he is pleased with what the city has done to promote tourism in Yellowknife but recognizes there is always room for improvement.

"You are never doing probably as much as is needed but you are doing as much as you have the resources to do," he said.

"Usually it's a matter of what are we doing that we shouldn't be doing? So that we can do more of this over here ... the challenge is always juggling priorities."

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