Aurora tourism sees new entrants
New upstarts often cater to growing number of Chinese tourists
Karen K. Ho
Northern News Services
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
As the number of tourists coming to Yellowknife continues to grow, more tourism companies have popped up to help show off the city and its reputation for Aurora viewing.
The number of tourists coming to Yellowknife to see the Aurora has grown dramatically, leading to new companies like Hello Aurora popping up. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo
|
But for operators like North Star Adventures' Joe Bailey, it means higher competition for customers and funding compared to only a few years ago.
"The figure hasn't changed," he said. "It's the same amount but now everyone gets less. We haven't applied in four or five years."
The GNWT, NWT Tourism and the Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre all confirmed a number of new entrants into the industry in the last two years, including Aurora Ninja, Aurora Dream Tours, Hello Aurora and Arctic Tours Canada.
Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment spokesperson Drew Williams said the North Slave office has licenced seven new Aurora viewing tour operators this year.
My Backyard Tours co-owner and operator Margaret Peterson said she is a bit worried the market is over-saturated.
"Do they have the knowledge and the background of Yellowknife and the Aurora?" she said.
As temperatures continue to dip in Yellowknife, hundreds of visitors are expected to descend on the city at venues including Aurora Village for the Christmas break.
Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre spokesperson Elijah Forget said the population will add to an already record-breaking year for the city.
"In 2014, we saw 25,375 visitors," he said. "In 2015, we've already had 36,000 and that's not even with the December numbers."
Bailey said much of the new business has been from tourists coming from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China.
Forget said in his experience, complaints about cloudy weather due to snow and above-average warmer temperatures over the last four to five weeks are mostly from residents, not visitors.
"People going on tours are still having a good time," he said. "We've had more complaints in past years compared to this year."
