City could take on visitor services
Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment commits $80,000 of funding through March
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
In a move city administrator Sheila Bassi-Kellett calls "triage," administration is presenting a plan to take over visitor services in the city.
Moon Zhao, right, a tourism operator from Vancouver, B.C., guides Chinese tourists from the province of Fujian, Feng Lan Yu, left, Chen Xiang, Song Qing and Yan Xuan while on a visit to Yellowknife to see the aurora last year. Council is considering a plan for the city to take on visitor services starting next month. - NNSL file photo |
This follows the impending Oct. 1 shutdown of the Northern Frontier Visitor's Association visitor information desk, which is currently located at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
Administration presented the plan to absorb visitor services starting next month through March 31 at Monday's municipal services committee meeting.
Kerry Penney, director of policy, communications and economic development with the city, told Yellowknifer via email the city is stepping because the issue is urgent.
"We recognize the value that tourism brings to Yellowknife and the NWT," she stated.
"With no other government or agency with a related mandate stepping in, we felt the need to do so."
In April, the Northern Frontier Visitors Association was forced to move out of the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre as the building was becoming uninhabitable. At the time, Yellowknifer reported constructing a new centre would cost between $2 and $5.25 million. On Monday, the visitors association stated in a news release board members would meet Oct. 2 to vote on whether the association has a future.
"It leaves a vacuum in our community," Bassi-Kellett told municipal services committee.
"We are really well into aurora viewing season, which will continue over the fall and winter, so we can't have a vacuum that's left without any kind of support for the visitors who are coming to our community."
Council expressed support for the plan.
Coun. Linda Bussey, who attended the meeting by phone, said she was in approval, while Coun. Niels Konge described administration's recommendations as "sound."
The issue will be brought forward for vote at next week's council meeting.
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has committed funding for city visitor services to the tune of $80,000 through March, according to department spokesperson Drew Williams. It hasn't been determined if - or how much - the department would contribute to visitor services past that date. The city is also planning to provide funding through March, but hasn't finalized how much by press time.
City officials could not say whether the city would continue to provide visitor services - or funding for another entity to provide those services - beyond that timeframe. If it does, the city could envelop the service within its destination marketing plan, which its hoping to fund through a municipal hotel tax.
The city has been lobbying the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs for a hotel tax - or accommodation levy - for years, in order to fund a number of destination marketing initiatives.
In city documents, administration stated the city's anticipated expenditures for taking over visitor services include staff salaries and the cost of supplies such as computers, furniture, utilities and internet, as well as location costs.
If approved by council next week, visitor information services will be located in the large boardroom of the ground floor of city hall.
According to GNWT statistics, 93,910 people visited the NWT in 2015-2016, with 48 per cent more people arriving to see the Northern lights than the year before. Those tourists spent $167.1 million.
Last September, based on occupancy numbers from the Yellowknife Hotel Association, was one of the busiest months, with 84.78 per cent of hotel rooms booked.
