NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Hot off the heels of territorial visits from the Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Luo Zhaohui, and Japanese actress Kaho Minami, NWT Tourism is getting set to fly to Asia for two major tourism trade shows.

Cathie Bolstad, executive director of NWT Tourism, addresses delegates at the NWT Chamber of Commerce Conference at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife on April 16. Bolstad and other representatives from the territorial marketing organization will be travelling to Japan and China this month to raise awareness of the NWT as a tourism destination to a growing Asian market. - NNSL file photo

Executive director Cathie Bolstad told News/North that she and her team will be attending Focus Canada Japan in Osaka from Oct. 15 to 16 and Showcase Canada-Asia in Shenyang, China from Oct. 19 to 23.

"At both of these, all of the destination marketing organizations across the country participate, and Destination Canada provides a comprehensive update on how those markets are doing in Canada," she said.

Focus Canada Japan is a tourism workshop and marketing event that brings Canadian suppliers like NWT Tourism with more than 70 Japanese tourism professionals. According to its website, it is specifically designed to promote Canadian destinations, tourism products and experiences.

The area is her organization's main area of focus following recently released information indicating strong growth in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the territory.

Showcase Canada Asia brings together Canadian suppliers with more than 100 buyers from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia.

Both events are organized by the international offices of Destination Canada, the national tourism organization and Crown Corporation that reports to the federal industry minister.

Bolstad said the events are a chance to show off and promote the NWT as well as meet with trade partners for sales calls.

Bolstad said her team will also head to Beijing with an additional marketing purpose in mind.

"We are actually looking to set up an agreement to get onto WeChat, which is the equivalent of Facebook in the North American market in China," she said. "We're trying to move to strengthen our position in the digital market."

Bolstad also said that during these overseas trips, NWT Tourism will be launching new language versions of its website in Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages.

"And we'll be promoting those," she said.

However, Bolstad said she'll have to recover from her jet lag fairly quickly, as NWT Tourism will be hosting their annual general meeting and conference on Nov. 3 to Nov. 5 in Yellowknife at the Explorer Hotel.

This year's event programming will also reflect the organization's focus on Asia and the recent report from the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Investment that the number of Chinese tourists has grown from 500 per year to more than 7,000 in the last nine to 12 months.

"The conference begins with a half-day workshop on working with the Chinese market," she said. "That market is growing in the NWT rapidly and we've had requests from tour operators who want to understand this client and meet their needs."

Bolstad said attendees will learn about the preferences of Chinese travellers, their culture as well as UnionPay, the Chinese bankcard association.

"They're going to show local businesses and tour operators how to take advantage of the credit card," she said. "So that they can see expenditures made by Chinese visitors that have come to Canada that are in the Northwest Territories."

"We want to make sure people can seize the opportunities this market presents."

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