Businesses see tourism boost
Be a Tourist in Your Own Town program prompts increase in local tourism traffic
Karen K. Ho
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife's first Be a Tourist in Your Own Town campaign has just finished and Old Town Glassworks definitely saw a boost in business.
"We had at least one person a day coming in with the coupon, if not two," said production manager Valerie Desjardins about the month-long event. "A lot of people were locals who knew the business and come here often. And a small portion were Yellowknifers but never really came here so it kind of gave them the occasion."
The promotional campaign was sponsored by the City of Yellowknife and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Coupon ticket books offered free and discounted items through businesses and organizations located across the city. The last day of the program was June 5.
Old Town Glassworks offered a 20-per-cent-off coupon for one of its workshops, or the same discount applied to the business' popular glass soap dispenser.
Desjardins estimated the company sold only a few workshops through the coupon, but they did manage to sell 50 of the soap dispensers, which regularly retail for $30 each.
"It totally worked," she said. "It was a huge success."
The tourist-friendly organization didn't find it challenging to accommodate the extra business.
In fact, Desjardins called the experience really fun, an excellent idea and definitely one that Old Town Glassworks would participate in again next year.
In Buffalo Airwear's latest written statement, company sales manager Christina Socha stated on average she had an extra two people per tour around the company's historical aircraft during the program.
"The success of the Be a Tourist in Your Own Town will be felt throughout the coming summer months when local Yellowknifers welcome visiting friends and family," she stated in the e-mail. "Buffalo Airways/Airwear is looking forward to participating in the 2016 campaign."
It's a sentiment program organizer Kris Johnson said wasn't unusual.
The department's regional superintendent said in addition to more than 3,000 ballots for the final prize draws last Friday, she heard from many other companies and organizations that they experienced higher-than-normal traffic and sales.
"Getting new people in your store is a big deal," she said, noting positive results for Museum Cafe, Aurora Emporium and the YK Climbing Club.
The mom of two also went golfing with her family at the Yellowknife Golf Club for the first time as a result of the tourism initiative.
"They had golf clubs for my two-year-old," Johnson said.
"It was something I could do with an older kid and a younger kid and we could go for dinner. It wasn't something I even would have thought of before."
