Manitoba spending half a million dollars supporting Indigenous tourism

Saturday, March 11, 2023

The province of Manitoba is spending almost half a million dollars for backing Indigenous tourism.

The Indigenous Reconciliation Initiatives Fund will offer Indigenous Tourism Manitoba with $450,000 for individual education, training and assistance for Indigenous tourism workers based in the province. The fund will also be directed toward marketing and advertising, expansion support along with a new Indigenous tourism meeting.

When David Daley begun his Wapusk Adventures in Churchill in the year 2000, his dog sledding venture was comparatively modest.

Daley said that he promised his wife that he would only have six dogs. When he had 12 dogs, he had to think about a way to start purchasing selected dog food money.

After two decades or more, Daley has 50 sled dogs. He takes thousands of tourists from all over the world for dog sled journeys and tours of the northern lights.

The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is hopeful that there is lot more room for success stories similar to Daley’s.

ITAC President Keith Henry said that they need no less than three times as many businesses, and as much as 3,000 people to be employed in the industry.

Henry said that there are approximately 150 Indigenous-owned and functioned tourism trades in Manitoba, generating nearly 1,000 jobs.

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